The Black Wolf comes to Sunnydale
by Jason Grace son of zues
Summary: Tobias didn't try to go to Sunnydale. He didn't! But now that he knows he's in a universe with a portal to Hell pouring out demons...Come on, who can pass that up? Set during Season 4 after Oz left, also Pseudo X-over with very slight mentions of other universes.
1. Arriving at the Hellmouth

It was the middle of the night in Sunnydale, a small out of the way town in California. It was the kind of place where one could look at it and think it would be a nice, quiet place to settle down, maybe start a family. They'd be wrong, dead wrong.

This small and unassuming town was set directly on top of a Hellmouth, a supernatural gateway that attracted demons and other supernatural forces like week old garbage attracted flies. As long as anyone could remember, there had been incidents of strange accidents, gruesome murders that remained unsolved, and a large number of strange people that seemed out of time, with old fashioned clothes and ways of speaking. If you have ever meet anyone like that in Sunnydale, it's a good chance they're a demon in disguise.

Since the beginning of the Earth, it was home to demons. Instead of an Eden like most people imagined, it was a Hell, the demons who had roamed then the true owners of the planet in the beginning. But as time passed, they lost their hold and were repulsed, cast out into a different dimension. But before the last of them were gone, they mixed their blood with humans, just starting to appear, creating a human/demon hybrid that would one day become known as vampires. Other, lesser known demons would still remain, but in greatly reduced numbers, along with forgotten magic. Humanity had no natural defenses against these forces, so three men, who would later become known as the Shadow Men, decided to change that. They cast a spell, using old and powerful magic, to force a demon's full soul into the vessel of a human girl. She would lose all sense of humanity, becoming a savage and unstoppable force that would hunt and destroy demons for the forces of good, and become known as the Slayer. When she died, the spirit of the Slayer was passed on to another, but not as potent. They would still be human, but with enhanced strength, speed, and power to fight back the forces of evil until her death, when the Slayer spirit would pass on to the next, generation to generation. And when it was passed on to the newest Slayer, a girl named Buffy Summers, it was believed that she would fulfill her destiny and stand alone against the vampires until it was her time to pass on the torch.

But, things are rarely so simple in life.

Thanks to the large number of deaths in Sunnydale, there was also a large number of graveyards. Buffy Summers could often be found wandering, or patrolling, them when a newly buried body that had been attacked by a vampire before burial, would be rising from the grave as a new vampire. Soulless, savage, and thirsty for blood, it was her job to kill the demon before it could claim its first victim, sending the vampire into a dimension where it would suffer an eternity of torture. Tonight though, this particular graveyard was quite. There were no new vampires rising from the grave, no demons with nefarious plots hiding in the shadows, or old magic causing somebody to go insane. It was just a quite, demon less, ordinary night. Until...

_**SNAP-CRACKLE. SNAP-CRACKLE. BOOM!**_

There were two bright and miniature burst of electricity, clawing through the air before dying, followed by a bright flash and loud boom as a body flew out of the light and collided with a tree.

"Ow," a male voice grunted as the shape hit the ground, not sounding particularly hurt but more annoyed. "Oh, that's going to leave a bruise." The figure grunted as he picked himself up and brush off his shirt. It was a teen in his later years, wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, along with a good pair of running shoes. He was tall, around six feet, and had some clear muscle on his arms, but not enough to be bulky. His hair was jet black and had a twig and a few leaves stuck in it, his skin was tan from apparently spending time outdoors, and was fairly good looking, but the real kicker was his eyes. They were silver and seemed to glow in the moonlight, surrounding black pupils that looked like black holes.

The teen looked around. "Ok. Let's see... I'm in a graveyard. Not the best place to be, but I've been in worse places. Looks like Earth, so that's good." He looked closer and saw a lamp casting light over a trail for people to walk through the graveyard twenty yards away. "Ok, electric lighting, so I'm in what I'd guess is the twenty first century, maybe a bit later, good. Now to just find someone and ask where the hell this stupid thing sent me now." He grumbled, looking at his wrist in an accusing manner. "I thought River said she fixed this thing."

On his wrist was a odd accessory. It was a leather gauntlet around his wrist, held in place with a metal clip and had a round dial pad on it, with a screen set above it. It looked completely ordinary, if a bit unusual.

With a sigh, the teen lowered his wrist and started walking towards the path. He stopped before reaching it. He heard footsteps and glanced back to see someone walking among the tombstones. It was a blonde woman in her late teens, early twenties wearing a black jacket, turtleneck, blue jeans with a pocket chain attached.

"Excuse me!" The teen called to her, walking towards her. The woman froze and snapped her head around to look at him, but he didn't notice. "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you but I had a question."

"Oh? What can I help you with...?"

"Tobias, Tobias Song." The teen introduced himself, not noticing how the woman's hand slid into her jacket pocket. "And you are..."

"Buffy Summers," she smiled, but it seemed forced and her neck was tense.

"Buffy, um, I'm sorta new here and I was wondering if you could tell me the..."

Tobias suddenly had to dodge to the side as Buffy whipped her hand out and tried to stab him in the heart with a stake, moving a lot faster then a ordinary human should be capable of.

"Whoa, what gives?! I was just trying to ask a question!" Tobias ducked under a backhanded stab at the head, then got kicked in the ribs and sent flying. He hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop against a tombstone.

"And let me guess, that question was 'where's the nearest unassuming human I can devour?" Buffy quipped as she approached him, flipping the stake so it's sharp end was facing forward again. "Now hold still so I can stab you."

"Wouldn't that kill me?" Tobias grunted, getting up and feeling his ribs throb with every heartbeat.

"That would be the _point_, yes. Get it? Stake, point...no?" She asked. Tobias shook his head. "Oh well, can't please everyone." She thrust her stake towards the heart, aiming to finish this quickly. What actually happened was Tobias grabbed her hand, twisting it so she dropped the sharpened piece of wood into his other hand, and had her legs kicked out from under her. She aimed a kick at Tobias's ankles, but missed as he jumped over the tombstone and out some distance between them.

"I've seen some odd and really unusual things, but who carries a stake?" Tobias asked her before breaking it over his knee.

"Hey, you broke Mr. Pointy!" Buffy said angrily as he threw the pieces away. He gave her an odd look.

"Mr Pointy?" He said slowly. "You named your stake?"

"Yeah, so?"

Tobias whistled lowly. "Ok~, that's a new one. So, Buffy, can you please just tell me where I am? Like I said, I'm kinda new around here."

"Well, you're in the sunny state of California in a pleasant little town called Sunnydale that's set over a mystical gateway to Hell that attracts vampires, demons, the occasional apocalypse. That answer your question?"

"Um...yeah." 'What fresh hell is this?' Tobias thought to himself. "So, um, if you don't mind, I'm just, gonna go that way. Bye." He pointed in a random direction opposite of Buffy, turned, and started walking away.

"Oh no you don't!" Buffy charged with the intent of grappling Tobias with either of choke hold and breaking his neck or kicking his legs out from under him and stabbing him with her backup stake. Before she could close enough to do either, Tobias spun around and thrust out his left hand. Buffy felt like she had been hit by a car as she was sent flying back and hit the ground hard before getting up. She noted the shocked look on Tobias's face when she did. "Nice trick, but it'll take make then that to take me down." She quipped.

She charged again, dodging to the right when her instincts told her too and they were right. She felt a shock wave graze her toes that made her twist to the right a bit before she righted herself and kept running. Normally she'd try and bait the demons to follow her instead of charging them, but she sensed that this one was different then others. For one, she was getting a weird vibe through her "Slayer Senses" rather than her normal weird vibes, so she guessed this was a new demon she hadn't run into yet. Secondly, this one looked almost completely human, ignoring the silver eyes, and he didn't seem bloodthirsty or bent on her death. It was further reinforced when he tried to leave and sounding pretty human when doing it. Since she didn't have any ideas on what he could do, she'd just have to try to kill him before he got away.

Tobias was trying to figure out how Buffy had taken his shock wave head on and gotten up like it was nothing. He hadn't put that much power into it, but at the very least she should've been winded and dazed, not jumping and charging him while dodging his second attack. It looked like he'd have to step it up a notch to get away.

Tobias clenched his hand and Buffy felt like she was locked in stone, freezing in mid step and unable to move anything except her head.

"Ok, I don't know what your problem is, but it needs to stop." Tobias swung his arm to the side, Buffy flying and colliding with a tree back first before falling to the ground. She grunted at the force behind the throw, but ignored the flare of pain from her back as she pushed herself off the ground. "What does it take to keep you down?"

"Well you might want to try a high school lecture, those things knock me right out." Buffy grabbed a rock and hurled at Tobias, only for him to catch it easily.

"Ow," he muttered as his hand stung from the force behind it. "Ok, this is getting too weird even for me at the moment, and considering I've seen entire other worlds, that's saying something. So until I can figure where and when the hell I am, I bid you goodbye Buffy Summers."

Buffy felt like all the air suddenly left her lungs while two somethings hit both her temples hard. Pain combined with lack of air knocked her out cold before she could think, 'Damn it!'

"Ok, this isn't what I was expecting." Tobias said out loud as he walked down the street. After leaving Buffy in the graveyard unconscious, he had walked in a random direction until he arrived at a main street. Aside from the unusual number of graveyards he noticed on his walk, this town was pretty average. Good people, good community, and a quick look at discarded newspaper had told him that he was in the year 1999, November. So aside from being a year off on his estimate, this was a perfectly average town. Except...he kept feeling an itch under his skin, like there was a buzz in the air. And mixed in was some sort of feeling over hate, greed, and an overpowering hunger for destruction. Maybe it had something to do with that "portal to hell" that Buffy had mentioned. He'd heard of weirder things. But still, he needed someplace he could figure out his next move, and gather some information on this town since he had a feeling he'd be here for a while

Tobias's walk took him outside what looked like a small bar/club with a sign that read _THE BRONZE _over the doors. Figuring it was good a place as any considering how many people were inside, he was just about to walk in before he remembered his eyes. He doubted people would fail to notice silver eyes and with Buffy's reaction to them still fresh in his mind, Tobias needed to hide them. He tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet and felt a slight tingle run over his eyes before looking into the windows. His reflection showed him looking back with dark green eyes. Nodding in satisfaction, Tobias pushed the doors open and walked through them.

The place was well lit and had a upbeat atmosphere, with some music playing. A quick look around showed that there was a bar area near the back of the building serving drinks to several people as they chatted and drank. A stage closer to the front had a band playing on it and people dancing in front of it, while the edges had raised tables and chairs, with a couch scattered here and there.

"Ok, now I just need to mingle and make some friends in a bar slash club. Oh joy." Tobias muttered the last part sarcastically before sighing. He walked through the crowds and spotted an empty table near a couple couches. He took a seat and just watched people interact and have a good time. Now it was just a question on finding some to talk to...

"Hi."

Or maybe not.

Tobias looked to see who had talked and looked them over. It was a redhead girl that looked around 18, with warm brown eyes and shoulder length hair, a kind but somewhat nervous smile on her face. Her clothes were a light blue, long sleeve shirt, jeans and brown boots, with a necklace around her neck. All in all, she seemed like the girl next door type of pretty and friendly.

"Um, hi." Tobias rubbed his neck to look nervous. 'Acting skills, don't fail me now.'

"Sorry if I'm intruding, but I thought you looked kinda lonely sitting here all alone. If you're meeting someone, I can go..."

"Oh, no, no," Tobias quickly shook his head. "No, not meeting anyone. I'm um, I'm kinda new to town. Just, getting out and seeing the sights, maybe meet a few people. Who knows, I might actually make a friend."

"Oh, well then, welcome to Sunnydale." The girl said brightly, looking more confident. "I'm Willow Rosenberg."

"Tobias Song." He shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Willow."

"Hey Willow, you coming or what?" A male voice called over the background noise.

"Sorry, don't let me keep you." Tobias said.

"Oh it's fine. Um, do you want to come with, I can introduce you to my friends."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Uh, ok then. I guess I'll come with." Tobias got up from his seat while thinking, 'why can't all people be this friendly?' It would certainly lead to less violence in the world. And less of him getting attacked by crazy, stake wielding blondes.

Willow led the way through the crowd to the other side of the room where two people were sitting on a couch. On it was a male and female. The male was around Willow's age and had a bowl cut of black hair, broad shoulders and muscled arms, brown eyes, and a somewhat handsome face, wearing a green shirt, jeans, and sneakers that were propped on a table in front of him. His arm was around the shoulder of the female next to him. Her hair was a mix of brunette and blond, curly and dropped down past her shoulders to frame her face. Ruby red lips, hazel eyes, and white skin made her look very attractive, but Tobias wasn't interested in her looks. Just not his type. She was supermodel thin but muscular enough to not be boarding on bony. Her clothes were a yellow blouse, jeans that cut off at the knees, and running shoes.

"Hey Wil, who's the guy?" The dark hair guy asked, jerking his chin at Tobias.

"Xander, Anya, this is Tobias Song, he's new to town. Tobias, these are my friends Xander Harris and Anya Jenkins."

"Hey Tobias. Welcome to the wonderful world of Sunnydale, California." Xander greeted, spreading his arms to indicate the town. "Great views, nice people, and in the middle of absolutely nowhere."

"Oh stop exaggerating, we live a two hour drive from LA." Willow sat down on the opposite couch and patted the seat next to her, promoting Tobias to sit as well.

"So, Tobias, what brings you Sunnydale?" Anya asked while looking him over.

"Uh, nothing really. I mean I'm kinda out here by accident," that was true enough. "I was on a bus trip to LA actually, but I accidently missed my bus. And of course, I lost my bag with my clothes, money and ID in it because what fun would it be if I had those? It'd be too easy."

"Oh, that's terrible," Willow said sympathetically. "What were you going to LA for?"

"Sort of on a trip across the country. Started in Wisconsin and worked my way across until I ended up here. Always wanted to travel and my parents gave me enough money to do that. Gave them a call and told them, but it's going to be a while until they get here so, here I am." He gestured around.

"Your parents let you go on a trip across the country? What about school?" Willow asked.

"Well, mom was never big on education in the first place and my step dad believes in going out and learning things for yourself instead of sitting in a classroom taking notes and tests and quizzes, all of which is boring according to him."

"Nice parents." Xander whistled, impressed. "I tried doing that during the summer... Didn't work out that well." He coughed, suddenly red and embarrassed. Willow flushed slightly while Anya just smirked.

"Don't even want to know." Tobias said firmly, extremely familiar with the look on Anya's face. "So what about you guys? What do you do?"

"Well I'm currently attending college at Sunnydale University with one of my friends and Anya, Xander delivers pizza at the moment. Nothing else really of note." Willow shrugged.

"Really? What about hobbies, ways of killing time?"

Tobias noticed them all shift slightly and turn faintly nervous. They were keeping a secret.

"Um, not much. I'm a Wicca in training when I'm not studying, and Xander and Anya are going out." Willow offered.

"Wicca, wicca...witches?" Tobias asked and she nodded. "Hhmm. Well, I've heard of stranger ways to pass the time. Personally I prefer reading, some running, maybe work on my fighting technique. I'm a black belt in karate."

"That's pretty cool." Anya noted. "Xander and I pass the time dating, kissing, having intercouse occasionally."

Well one thing for sure, Anya didn't beat around the bush. Willow and Xander blushed bright red and Xander protested, "Anya!"

"Well, you certainly aren't shy." Tobias chuckled while the blonde/brunette pouted slightly.

"Aw, I love seeing people blush when I say that."

"Sorry, but I'm not most people. Plus I have a girlfriend back home, so...think what you will." He looked at Willow. "So this friend of yours, does he or she have a name?"

"Yeah, her name is..." Willow looked over her shoulder at the door and her expression brightened. "Oh, here she is now, I can introduce you. Hey Buffy!" She called, standing up and waved her arm. Tobias snapped his head around to see the same blonde as earlier standing at the doors, scanning the room until Willow called. She looked and smiled until her eyes met Tobias's. Then they went from warm and happy to cold and hunting in a split instant.

'Oh come on!' Tobias shouted in his head before digging the toes of his sneakers into the ground and shot off like a stone from a slingshot, jumping over the couch Xander and Anya were sitting, ignoring their shouts of surprise and shoved his way through the crowds to the back. He spotted a door and ran through it, ending up in the alley in back of the club. He fired down the right and started running as fast as he could.

"Hey!"

A quick glance over his shoulder showed Buffy in hot pursuit of him and closing the distance bit by bit. He got to the street and took a left, running down the sidewalk while dodging pedestrians.

'Just when I start making some good friends, I find out they're also friends with Ms. Likes-to-stab-a-lot!' Tobias shouted angrily in his head as he spotted yet another graveyard, one out of many, a good block or two away. He needed to get this fight away from regular people, and fast. He bent his knee with his next step and push off, jumping into the air and over the heads over the people to land on the rooftops next to him. He jumped from one to the next before flipping off the next one to land next to the graveyard's boundaries. Another look showed Buffy still had him in her sights and a good distance behind her was Willow and her friends. 'Just freaking perfect.'

He ran past the tree line and down the paths before getting off them and running through the tombstones. 'Ok, looks like there's a clear enough spot up ahead, so I'll just get there and...'

Tobias's thought process was cut off when he was running past a tree when, suddenly, an arm came out of nowhere and clotheslined him, knocking him flat on his back while his neck felt like it had almost left his torso. He coughed violently and tried to breath.

"Well, well, well, look what the demon dragged in." A British voice said happily. Once Tobias stopped seeing double vision from his head colliding with the ground at high speed, he looked at whoever had pulled that dick move.

It was an extraordinarily pale man, so pale his skin seemed to glow in the moonlight as it reflected off greased back bleach blonde hair. His entire outfit, a red collared shirt under a black leather jacket, black pants and black combat boots, screamed 'don't mess with me'. He also had a silver chain around his neck.

"You know, I often have to go hunting to find a decent meal, but sometimes one just runs right into me," the man grabbed Tobias's collar and lifted him off the ground easily. "And I get a break."

Tobias tried to twist out of the grip but this guy had more strength than his frame suggested. "Great, people just keep wanting to kill me today. Who are you?"

"Names Spike. And you, my unlucky boy," Tobias was forced to get a close up of the mans face as it suddenly changed. The brow ridge jutted out and thickened, his face turned more angular and threatening, and his canines grew longer into fangs. "Are dinner."

"Not a chance." Tobias reared his head back and smashed his forehead into Spike's nose, forcing him to let go and drop him, staggering back. Tobias rubbed his forehead. "Ow. What the hell are you made of?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Spike groaned as he touched his nose. "I may not have a pulse mate, but I can still feel pain, and smashing your head into a nose hurts the other guy."

"May not have a...pulse? What are talking about?" Tobias asked. "Wait, hold on a minute, you're dead, and you have fangs..." Tobias groaned and smacked his head. "Oh, you're kidding me, I'm in a universe where there are stereotypical vampires!?" He yelled the last five words at the sky, ignoring Spike. "What else can go wrong?!"

"Hey!" Tobias looked to see Buffy arriving and looking barely winded from her run. A quick look showed Spike had vanished without a trace. "I didn't say you could run."

"Ok, can you please just give me a minute?" Tobias paced back and forth. "Oh, I'm going to kill River, I was supposed to be going on vacation to Florida with my girlfriends, but noooo, River had to not fix my transportation so I'm in a town set over a portal to hell with a crazy blonde trying to stake me in the heart, making friends with some good people before finding out they're friends with said blonde!" Tobias shouted at the sky before taking a deep breath and turning his attention to Buffy. "Ok, I'm good now. Now, can you please simply leave me alone so I can try to go home?"

"Hhmm," Buffy pretended to think about it. "I'm gonna say, no." She charged and covered the distance between them, throwing a right cross at his face. Tobias leaned back and dodged, dealing a punch to her stomach. Buffy grunted, but kicked at his legs to knock them out from under him. He rolled to the side to dodge a stake towards the head. Tobias grunted as he kicked at her head, only to be grabbed by her other hand.

"Nice try." She lifted him up and flipped him over, smashing him into the ground. "Now hold still so I can kill you." She said getting up and raising her stake to plunge in his heart from behind.

Tobias snapped around and Buffy paused when she saw the previously green eyes turn silver, then oddly, white. His face was also twisted in a snarl. "Just leave me alone!"

Buffy was blasted away by a shock wave and hit a gravestone, almost breaking it in half. Before she could slide down it, Tobias was pressing her against it with his arm against her throat and fist pulled back.

"Now listen. I don't know where exactly I am, what the rules are, or how to get back home. So leave me alone." Tobias growled in his throat. "Or I'll show you how outclassed you..." Suddenly he heard what sounded like Latin and looked to the right to see Xander, Anya, and Willow in front of the other two, the source of the words. He was suddenly feeling tired and when she finished, he blacked out.

Buffy coughed as Willow finished her spell and her target collapsed to the ground, letting her breath properly again. "Thanks Will." She rubbed her throat. "He had some tricks up his sleeves. He didn't hurt you guys right?"

"No, no, he was actually pretty friendly at the Bronze." Xander said as they walked closer. "I can't believe he's a demon though."

Buffy knelt next to him. "Yeah, got some weird vibes from him when I ran into him earlier. Took me by surprise, but hey, finally got him." She lifted an eye lid and looked at the silver eyes. "Never seen one with those kinda tricks though. Oh well." She lifted her stake again, only to be grabbed by Anya.

"Don't kill him."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"I don't think he _is_ a demon." She knelt down and looked at the eyes too. "For one thing, I've never seen or heard of a demon that looks this human but has eyes like this. Plus back at the bar I didn't get the feeling he was going to hurt us, or any other demonish feelings. I mean, look at him."

"So what, you want to let him just walk around free to do whatever?" Buffy asked.

"No...but maybe we can keep him bound and ask him some questions when he wakes up, maybe do some research in the meantime. I might be able to find a binding spell to hold him." Willow offered. She wasn't big on killing in general, unless it was vampires and demons, but after speaking with the guy she had just knocked out with a sleep spell...well until she got the full story, it couldn't hurt to keep him alive. "Maybe Giles knows what kind of demon he is, we can take him to his house." She suggested.

Buffy sighed. Personally she'd prefer to just kill him and be done with it. "Ok, fine. Let's go talk to Giles." She picked up the knocked out teen and slung him over her shoulder, the group walking through the graveyard.

Tobias groaned as he woke up feeling extremely stiff for some reason. Last thing he remembers was... let's see, arriving in graveyard, getting attacked by blonde named Buffy, knocking blonde out, walking around town, finding the Bronze and apparently Buffy's other friends, chased by by Buffy, warning her to back off, then... Willow chanting Latin for some reason and him waking up now. He tried to lift his arms so he could run his eyes, but couldn't. Actually, he couldn't move his arms or legs.

"What the...?" He snapped his eyes open and took in his surroundings. He was in a living room, decorated in mostly dark tones. A dark, hardwood floor, a dark couch right in front of him behind which was a desk and chair, door and then staircase. A small kitchen was to the left behind a counter, and the walls were a bright green. A quick glance behind showed a fireplace. He then looked down at himself. His arms and legs were tied with thick rope to a chair, and his torso also had rope around it so he couldn't move anything except his feet, hands, and head. There was also a magic circle around him.

He grunted as he tried to pull out of his bindings and failing that, tried to access his power to cut them. But something was...blocking them. 'Ok, magic circle is blocking my powers...oh, this is bad.' He sighed and then cocked his head, hearing people talking upstairs. "Hello?"

"Hhmm?" Buffy's head ducked down into sight. "Oh, good, hey Giles, he's awake." She told whoever was upstairs as she walked down. "So, nice nap?"

"Yeah fine, what did you do to me?" Tobias demanded.

"Oh, you mean those nifty little tricks you used earlier? Yeah, fraid those had to go for the time being. You guys coming?" She called up.

"Yes, yes, we're coming. You'd think after all these years you would've learned some patience Buffy." A British accent said back.

"Eeh, never been good with patience."

"Hhmm, what a surprise." The first one to come down was not someone Tobias had seen or talked to since arriving in Sunnydale. He was an older man, looking past the prime of his life but only just a bit past it. Brown hair that was streaked with grey, glasses that resembled the ones worn by Harry Potter, and a strong face that was lightly lined with age. He looked like a father figure/librarian. His clothes consisted of a grey short sleeve shirt and worn blue jeans. He took of his glasses as Willow, Xander, and Anya followed him down. "Sorry for the...uncomfortable accommodations but we had to make sure you were restrained for the time being." Giles apologized.

"Yeah, well, I think you succeeded." Tobias looked pointedly at himself. "Also, how did you block my powers?"

"Me." Willow raised her hand guilty. "I, uh, kinda found a spell that restraints powers and renders them unusable. Sorry."

"Oh this can not be happening to me." Tobias addressed the ceiling. He sighed and closed his eyes, making a moment to calm down. "Ok." He looked at Giles as he sat down directly across from him on the couch, Buffy and Xander on his right, Willow and Anya on the left. "Since I'm clearly, not going anywhere, let's talk."

"All right then. May I inquire what kind of demon you are?" Giles asked politely.

Tobias gave him a deadpan stare. "I beg your pardon?"

"Uh, that is to say what species of demon origin are you?"

"What is with you people? I am not a demon, I am... 50, 60 percent human." He finished.

"So you're demon half breed?" Giles inquired.

Tobias sighed. "Not...precisely. I'm..." He paused and frowned, feeling a flicker of something inside. "Hang on a moment." He dug a bit deeper and followed the feeling as it grew stronger. He felt his power start flowing back as his eyes slowly started changing. He instantly stopped, not wanting to give away his advantage. "Sorry, thought I felt something. Um, what was the question again?"

"Demon half breed?" Buffy said helpfully.

"Thanks, no I'm not a demon half breed, but I admit I'm not fully human."

"So what's the other half?" Xander asked.

"Unique."

"Good or bad unique?" Buffy asked.

"Depends on who's asking. My friends, family, good. People who piss me off by trying to kill them or innocent people, bad, very bad."

"Neat, we have something in common then!" Buffy said cheerfully.

"Oh joy, I have something in common with the girl who tried to stab me through the heart because she thought I was a demon." You could taste the sarcasm in the sentence.

"Hey! It's not my fault, you looked like one!"

Tobias gestured at his body. Or tried to, as best he could without moving his arm. "I look human! The only thing different is my eyes and even those change color to look normal! Maybe if you had given me five minutes to explain instead of trying to kill me, I wouldn't have needed to knock you out!"

"Children!" Giles cut off the argument before it could escalate. "I think we can both agree there were some unacceptable actions done by both parties, what is important is that we move on to other matters." Buffy leaned back with her arms crossed and a slight pout on her face like a child. "Now then, what brought you to Sunnydale?"

"Honestly? Freak accident. I was trying to get...somewhere else and something went wrong, next thing I know I'm in a graveyard with no idea where I was so I, tried to ask Buffy for directions. Afterwards, I needed to find someplace to find someone to talk to, so I went into the Bronze and ran into Willow. And the rest is ancient history."

"Ok, so what do we do with him?" Buffy asked Giles. He pushed his glasses up and sighed.

"Well, I don't see any harm in letting him out of his chair, so Willow, if you could..."

"No, don't bother I got it." Tobias's sentence drew confused looks from everyone until he grunted, eyes flashing white as the ropes all snapped simultaneously. Everyone jumped to their feet as he got up, rubbing his wrists. "Oh relax, I think I just proceed if I wanted to kill you I could've."

"Aw, I must've messed up the magic circle." Willow whined.

"No, no, that part actually worked. I think it's just because I've got too much power that it didn't restrain everything."

"Um, how much power do you have exactly? And what is your power anyways?" Xander asked.

"Air. All the wind around is mine to manipulate as I please, that's how I knocked Buffy out actually, sucked the air out of her lungs while dealing a hit to both her temples." He clicked his tongue. "Gets them every time."

Everyone blinked. "Um, wow. That's pretty cool." Anya commented, speaking for the first time.

"Eeh, it gets the job done. But yeah, it's pretty cool. For instance..." The ropes on the ground twisted before rising up like snakes, severed ends pointing at them all, which made them all tense. "Calm down, I'm just showing as a demonstration, I'm not attacking anyone." He said as the ropes dropped back to the floor.

"Um, right, yes." Giles took off his glasses and polished them on his handkerchief. "So, what are your plans now that we're all on the same foot."

"Uh, not sure." Tobias lifted his arms and dropped them to show his cluelessness. "I should try to get home, but my transportation is obviously on the fritz so I have no clue what'll happen if I try using it. With my luck I'd accidently be sent into a hell dimension that are apparently here, so, I guess I'm stuck here."

"Well, if you're stuck you're going to need a place to stay. If you want you can hang out at my place," Xander offered.

"Yeah, if you like hearing Xander and Anya go at it non-stop." Buffy snorted.

"I certainly don't regret it." Anya smirked as she ran a finger across her boyfriends shoulders.

"Ok then, thank you for the offer, but I can easily do without hearing your sex life. Literally." Tobias said. "Um, anyone else?"

Buffy shrugged. "My house is free. I mean, my mom is still there, but I think she'd be ok taking you in if I asked." She also wanted to keep an eye on him. Too many times she had trusted someone or something and they ended up biting them in the ass. Or stabbing them through the heart, to use a more appropriate metaphor. At least with him at her moms she knew where he was.

"Sure, if she'll have me. Does she know about the...Slayer slash Hellmouth, slash demons trying to end the world?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. You'll be fine. And if you need any help dealing with demons, just call me or ask Giles. He's my Watcher, knows all about old, musty, evil demons." She clapped said Watcher on the arm.

"Yes, quite." He didn't look amused but he didn't say anything about it. "In the meantime, you should all be getting home and Buffy, you should get back to patrolling. Also, Tobias, can you stop by tomorrow, I can help make you an identity for while you're here."

"Sure, thanks. Oh, before we go our separate ways, I ran into someone else here. Someone named Spike?"

The atmosphere in the room went from average to downright awkward in less then a second. Buffy in particular looked angry at the mention of the name.

"I should avoid him at all costs shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, that would be best." Xander nodded.

"Right, duly noted. Um, thanks for everything I guess, and I'll see you guys around."

**A/N: This is something I came up with in a fit of boredom and inspiration striking me out of nowhere. Now, if people like it I'll continue writing it while keeping up with my Mark of Athena book. Also, so there is no confusion on the order, it will be Mark of Athena first, and this second. Read, favorite, and Review!**


	2. Settling in

"So how long have you been doing this? Killing vampires and demons I mean." Tobias asked Buffy as they walked down the street.

"Since I was fifteen. I meet my first Watcher one day after school. He told me my destiny was approaching, that I going to fight back the forces of evil. Obviously I didn't believe him at first, thought he was some weirdo. Until I killed my first vampire. One thing led to another, and long story short, I burned down my highschool gym because it was full of vampires. And I moved her to Sunnydale, where I meet Willow, Xander, Giles, all my friends. That was three years ago."

"Wow. Three years of fighting monsters?"

"Yeah. Things got tough at times, but it's been ok. What about you? How'd you get your 'powers?'" She put quotes around the word.

"Heh, I was born with them." Tobias snorted. He noticed Buffy's look of surprise. "Oh yeah, I've had them since day one. Something that made me different, made me powerful. It's brought me a lot of pain too, later down the line. Now though... now they're a part of me. And despite everything they done to me, I'm pretty happy with them."

"Why?"

"Brought me a lot more happiness than pain and bad memories," Tobias shrugged. "Can't just see the bad in my life. I got to see the good, the light in the darkness. Otherwise I would've kept going down a long and dark path. Besides, who wants a normal life?"

"I wouldn't mind one." Buffy grumbled, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Really? If you had the chance to trade in all your power for a average life, after tasting what adventure is like, would you take it?"

Buffy thought about that for a minute. An average life was something she wanted, but trading in what made her the Slayer for it...all those dangerous adventures, killing demons, stopping apocalypses, for boring everyday life...maybe she wouldn't jump right on it like she thought she would.

"I...I don't know."

"Well, think about it."

They walked along in comfortable silence, Buffy thinking about the new way of looking at her life while Tobias was just taking in the town and its night sounds. Then he had a thought.

"Hey Buffy."

"Yeah?"

"You mentioned the occasional apocalypse tends to visit Sunnydale. Is that true, or we're you just messing me before?"

"Nope, it's true. I mean, we don't have the red sky and rivers of blood and all that when one is coming but we get the occasional demon that try's to bring about the end of world as we know it."

"I'm pretty sure that's a rock song." Tobias said in a flat tone, making Buffy hit him on the shoulder.

"Ha ha."

"Sorry, couldn't help it. So, how many have you had since you became the Slayer?"

"Three or four. Seems to happen at least once a year for me, which always cuts into 'me' time."

"Do I want to know what the attempts were?"

"Well, let's see," Buffy counted them off on her fingers. "First one was a vampire with very bad fruit punch mouth, called himself The Master, then there was Spike and his crazy vamp girlfriend Drusilla and.." She stopped and Tobias saw a flash of pain flicker across her face before it faded. "Another vampire I knew, and then the Mayor."

"The Mayor? Isn't that kinda against the job? You know, helping the town grow, be healthy, all that motivational and election speech crap?"

"Yeah, it turned out he was actually an immortal slime bag that was trying to become a demon. The ritual succeeded and turned into this giant snake thing, which me and my friends had to kill by blowing up our high school."

Tobias whistled. "How'd that go?"

"Oh, just had to get some supplies for the explosives, arm every student with weapons to fight off the mayor's vamp goons."

"Wait, this took place during the day?"

"There was a eclipse. Bad timing if you ask me."

"So, to recap everything I know about you. You've been killing demons and vampires since you were fifteen. You moved to Sunnydale because you burned down your last high school's gymnasium because it was full of vampires. You've stopped four apocalypses since you arrived. Um, what else what else? Oh, right, you stronger than an average human as shown when you tried to kill me."

"I said I was sorry, isn't that enough?" Buffy groaned.

"No." Tobias said simply. "So how much farther to your place?"

"Right here." Buffy stopped walking and nodded at the house they had stopped in front of. Tobias took it in. It was white, with a front porch that had some potted plants next to the door. Around the windows was a light blue trimmings, and it was two stories tall. It even had a green lawn and trees around it.

Tobias sighed and Buffy looked at him. He looked a bit amused. "What? Something funny?"

"Kinda. I've just never seen myself living in a home that looked so...ordinary."

"Well, like you said, ordinary is good."

"Yeah, well, my life hasn't been ordinary since the day I was born. Plus I get one big adventure after another every other week."

"Then you'll fit in just fine here." Buffy clapped his shoulder. "Come on." She led the way up the walk and knocked at the door. When there was no response, she tried again. This time a light flicked on inside and there was the sound of footsteps, a lock clicking, and the door opening. It revealed a middle age woman with curly brown hair, brown eyes the same shade as Buffy's, and a motherly face. She was wearing a robe and looked tired until she saw who was at the door, immediately looking more awake.

"Buffy." She said warmly as she hugged her daughter who hugged back. "Hhmm, how have you been? Keeping up in school?"

"Yeah." Buffy pulled back. "Sorry to drop in so late, but I needed to ask you for a favor."

"What is it?" She then noticed Tobias standing on the porch, looking around and scratching his eye. "Who's this?"

"Tobias. Pleasure to meet you Ms. Summers." The teen replied, nodding slightly at her. Before she had opened the door, he had also put up the same thing as earlier, making his eyes green again.

"He's new to town and needs a place to stay. I told him he could stay here, if it's ok?" Buffy asked.

"Of course, but does he...know?" She asked her daughter, purposely being vague.

Tobias cleared his throat, getting her attention, before his eyes rapidly shifted to silver, white, then back to green. "Yeah, I know about her. And what's under our feet."

"Well, come in then." She opened the door more and gestured them in. They entered and Tobias looked around.

First impression: _cozy_. Directly in front was a hallway that lead to what looked like the kitchen and a staircase going to the second level. A living room was to the right and tastefully decorated, two couches on either side of a low table, and several pictures lining the walls. To the right was a dining room, with light wooden tables and chairs arranged around it with a light set above it. It was a comfortable, average home that someone could live their life in.

Tobias felt like he had walked into the second most boring place ever. First place belonged to a lecture in school, high school level and above. But maybe that was just because he was used to more exciting places than this, because it was a nice house, all things considered. Plus based on his first impressions, things around Sunnydale got a lot more exciting than this at times.

"Do either of you want anything?" Buffy's mom asked.

Buffy shook her head and Tobias said, "Water would be fine."

"Ok." She walked down the hall to the kitchen while he and Buffy sat down in the living room.

"So this is your place?" Tobias asked.

"Well, technically it's my moms place and I stop by on occasion. I have a dorm room at college with Willow, but before Willow it was this roommate that drove me insane and who turned out to be a demon that was trying to steal my soul so she could go to college, and I'm babbling aren't I?" She asked.

"Just a bit." Tobias nodded. "Don't worry, my mom goes off on tangents at times, so I'm used to it."

"Good, good." She said. They both sat there in somewhat awkward silence until Joyce came back with a glass of water.

"Here you go." She handed the glass to Tobias as she sat down on the opposite couch.

"Thank you." Tobias took a drink before setting the glass on the table. "We're sorry for disturbing you this late Ms. Summers."

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. So, Buffy, you said that Tobias needed place to stay?"

"Yeah. Yeah he's new to town and doesn't know anyone. Plus he's kinda stuck here until he can get back home and Xander has Anya staying with him and Willow is in a dorm with me, so I thought I'd ask you."

"What about Giles?"

"Yeah, about that," Tobias cleared his throat. "They kinda knocked me out, thinking I was a demon or demon half breed and I woke up tied to a chair in Giles place so they could ask me questions. Se excuse me if I wanted to get out of that house for the time being."

Joyce shot Buffy a look. "Is that true?"

"Maybe?" Buffy offered meekly. "Look it's not my fault, he knocked me out and then I ran into him at the Bronze and I sorta just...reacted?"

"Oh, you reacted all right. You reacted by trying to stab me through the chest with 'Mr. Pointy' when I was trying to ask where I was." Tobias made quotes around her stakes name.

"Buffy!" Joyce said angrily.

"It's not my fault! I was getting...demony feelings from him!"

"That's not even a word." Tobias pointed out.

"Well I don't know how else to describe it!"

"All right, fine." Tobias decided to drop the subject. "So, back to the matter at hand, would it be ok if I stayed here for the time being Ms. Summers?"

"Well, I suppose, but I do have a few rules."

"Ok."

"First off, if you're going to be out late, let me know ahead of time. Second, I may need some help around the house once in a while, so you'll have to do that. Thirdly, when you do come back, do not bring back demons, vampires, or other supernatural beings."

Those were all completely normal conditions, ignoring the last one, and it almost made Tobias laugh. His life had been one exciting/extremely dangerous event after another, and now he was getting ground rules that every teenager got in their life from a mother figure. Talk about a change.

"I can live with that."

"Ok then." Joyce stood up, the others following her example. "There's a guest room you can use upstairs, but it might be a bit dusty."

"That's fine."

"Ok, since that's sorted, I should probably get going," Buffy said, clapping her hands. "Still a few hours of patrolling to do and then I got to run back to campus for class."

"Oh, that reminds me," Tobias looked at her. "Would you mind if I go patrolling with you tomorrow night? I won't have anything else to do and I want to learn the ropes."

"Um, sure, I guess that'd be ok." Buffy said, surprised. She sometimes had people with her when she was patrolling, like Willow, but the new guy wanting to join her was unexpected. Still, he had already shown he could at least take out the average vampire by taking her out (even if he had cheated and used some weird power to do it). "I'll swing by and pick you up."

"Actually swing by Giles place. I don't want to live there, but you said he can help me if I had any questions about demons right?"

"Oh sure. When you have any questions about old despicable, ugly beings that are trying to eat people or end the world, Giles is the guy to ask."

"Ok then, I'll be at his house then."

"Right, well, I got to go. It was good to see you mom." Buffy said, giving her mother a hug that was returned.

"Good to see you too."

"Oh, and before I forget, one more thing." Buffy pointed at Tobias. "Let my mother get hurt on your watch, and I don't care what fancy tricks are up your sleeve, I will stake you through the heart."

"Consider me warned then." Tobias said. Despite the fact he had gone up against bigger things than Buffy (and yes, he was calling her short) he learned there were few things more dangerous then determined teenage girl armed with a sharp, pointy weapon. Such as a pissed off mother that had a gun and extremely good aim.

"Great! Bye then!" Buffy said cheerfully before leaving the room, opening the door, and stepping out into the night.

After a few seconds of silence, Tobias spoke.

"Has she always threatened people with a stake or am I the exception?"

"I honestly don't know. I only found out about the demon hunting around two years ago, but it doesn't make for the best conversations."

"I suppose not. So, where am I sleeping, I don't want to keep you up any longer."

"Here, I'll show you. It's upstairs." They went up the staircase and stopped at the second door on the right. She opened it to show the room was dark and sparsely furnished, but most of the space was taken up by several large, wooden boxes. "Sorry, I work at a museum and we're cataloging some things for an exhibit."

"Don't be, I can make due with this." Tobias said politely. "Thank you, again, for letting me stay here."

"It's fine. Do you need anything else?"

"No."

"Then good night Tobias." Joyce smiled before going back to her room to sleep.

"Yeah, good night." He muttered under his breath before going into the room and closing the door, making the only light in the room moonlight from the window.

'Ok, let's review,' Tobias thought to himself as he sat down on the bare bed, ignoring the puff of dust that came with it. 'Buffy is the Slayer, meant to kill demons and vampires and stop apocalypses every other year apparently. How long she has to do that, I don't know. Vampires here seem pretty textbook, weaknesses to stakes through the heart and I'm assuming sunlight, crosses, holy water, that kinda stuff. I'll have to do some experimenting to find out which power works on them and which doesn't. All of them are stronger and faster than humans based on Buffy's physical strength and speed. Willow, Xander, Anya, and Giles all help her fight, how they do so is currently unknown. And I'm stuck here until I can figure out how to fix my vortex manipulator or until River finds me.'

Tobias snorted. So all together, he had no way of getting home, none of his normal weapons, and he had several newer friends he'd have to learn about and who'd have to learn to trust him, not to mention what was most likely a huge amount of demons he might encounter here.

"Sounds like a good time in my book." He muttered to himself as he looked at the dusty mattress. He flicked his hand and the dust was blow off by a quick but powerful breeze. He laid down and closed his silver eyes, surrendering himself to sleep.

* * *

><p>Giles was busy looking over a book at his desk while several others were staked next to him. It was early in the morning, but he hadn't been able to sleep much due to the thoughts going through his head from last night.<p>

He had been dealing with things of supernatural origin for close to 30 years, and since he had become Buffy's Watcher, he had dealt with much more in their short time together. But when she and the others had shown up at his apartment, Buffy with an boy over her shoulder, it had been a new experience. He had no knowledge of anything that could do what Buffy had described...what was his name again, Tobias?...Tobias had been capable of doing. Fighting with her easily, rendering her unconscious with even more ease, and then overpowering her, and breaking out of a fairly powerful binding circle were all the marks of a truly powerful and exceedingly dangerous creature. But Tobias was clearly not any of them, which puzzled the Watcher a great deal. So he had been searching through his large collection of books on demons and magic for anything describing what he had heard, but so far was coming up empty. It was not, he found, a feeling he liked.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as there was a knock at the door.

"One moment." He called, getting up and opening the door. "Oh, hello."

"Hi." Tobias said, hands in his pockets and still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. His eyes were also green instead of the silver color Giles had seen last night. "Can I come in or is this a bad time?"

"Oh, oh, no please, come in, come in."

"Thank you." Tobias moved inside and looked around despite the fact he had seen the place last night.

"Not that I don't mind, but can I inquire why you are here?" Giles asked, closing the door.

"Yeah, I was told last night by Buffy you were the guy to ask about demons." Tobias said, giving Giles his attention.

"Yes, I'm aware of what Buffy said last night." Giles said, still a bit irritated that she had said he was the person to talk to about "old, musty demons." Demons that she had fought and learned their weaknesses from him, thank you very much. "Why, did you have some questions?"

"Uh, kinda. Uh, may I..." He gestured vaguely at the couch.

"Oh, yes, please." They both sat down. "So, what questions did you have?"

"Well, since I'm apparently stuck here for the time being, I'm wanted to learn more about demons in general. Strengths, weakness, history, what they do, that kind of stuff."

"Well," Giles took off his glasses and polished them. "I can certainly help you with the areas you've specified, but may I inquire why you want to know that?"

"I'm stuck here for the time being, I don't have a job or even exist here, and I have to do something or rip out my hair from sheer boredom. I thought helping Buffy on patrol would be a good way to pass the time."

"Helping Buffy on patrol?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No, no, I just wasn't expecting that." Giles replaced his glasses and looked at Tobias again. "You have to understand, Buffy has been The Slayer for the past three years and has gotten a large amount of training and experience to be what she is today. It's not something just any can pick up in a flight of fancy."

"I realize that. But I've been doing basically what she does on a _much_ larger scale and for much longer, so I'll be fine. And no, I will answer questions or explain myself to you, you'll just have to take me at my word and be patient like everyone else."

Giles often told Buffy to be patient, but now he could appreciate how irksome it was when you were told.

"Very well. I can give several books to cover the areas you're interested in, but beyond that you'll have to ask me or Buffy." He said, getting up and going to his desk.

"What are you studying anyways?" Tobias asked, watching from the couch at he closed the open book on his desk and put it on top of the others.

"Oh, nothing important, just...looking for something."

"Hhmm." Tobias sounded like he didn't believe him but dropped the subject. "Oh, didn't you ask me to drop by so you could help me make an identity here?"

"Yes."

"Never mind about that, I don't need one."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Giles said after a moment.

"Ok, let me put it another way. I do not require, an identity." Tobias said slowly. "I don't plan on getting a job here and school is out of the question, plus I can get around just fine on my own. So, thank you for the offer, but no thank you."

"Oh. Um, well if you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

"Right, well, I guess I'll get you those books then. Just, give me a moment to put these away please."

"Thanks Giles."

So that's how Tobias passed the time. Once he had gotten the books from Giles, he had sat down and started reading. It was a bit tough with the older writing of the books, but nothing he couldn't work past. And he saw he had been right about the weaknesses of vampires, but the interesting bit was how they couldn't enter a human dwelling without being invited in. However, a living human had to be in the...dwelling for this rule to apply. If there was nobody there, they could enter at anytime they wanted. Aside from that, he noticed most of the weaknesses listed very fairly vague. Sunlight, easy enough, but could they be hurt by artificial sunlight? Would it need to be an actually stake to the heart or would any wood do so long as it went through the heart? Holy water...well, he couldn't see any potential loopholes there. Crosses, that was different. Did the cross need to be made of wood, or would any cross do so long as it could touch them?

All these questions he asked Giles and he found out that nobody had tried artificial sunlight, so he didn't know, any wood would do like a crossbolt so long as it pierced the heart, holy water didn't have a loophole that he knew of, but any cross could hurt a vampire if it could touch them, regardless if it was wood, metal, or any other material. Giles actually seemed happy that someone was asking him these questions and taking an interest in learning about the demons in the books he provided.

"So if I had any cross, as long as it's solid and touches the vampire, it'll work to hurt them?" Tobias asked.

"Yes, yes that's correct. Now, you can't just take something, like two branches, and make a cross. No, it has to be an actually cross, but the material they are made out is irrelevant."

"Huh. Something to experiment with tonight then." Tobias muttered as he closed the book they had been looking at over the coffee table. "Well thank you Giles, this was fun and very informative."

"The pleasure was all mine, I assure you." Giles said as Tobias handed him back the book and stood up. He looked at his watch and blinked. "Dear lord, is that the time?"

Tobias stole a look at the watch and saw it was an hour past noon, and he had arrived around 8 in the morning. "Wow, no wonder I feel stiff." He groaned as he stretched his arms and tilted his head, causing several loud pops to be heard through the room. "Ah, that's better. Thanks again Giles, but I'll get out of your hair."

"Um, yes, you're quite welcome." Giles said absently. Now that he was aware of the time, he realized he was famished from not eating breakfast (he had wanted to get right on his earlier studies) and lunch.

"Bye." Tobias opened the door and walked out into the sunlight. He then walked down the street with his hands in his pockets.

'Looks like Buffy was right.' He thought idly. He had gone to Giles to learn about demons, but Buffy had failed to mention that Giles was a truly incredibly valuable resource when you wanted to learn about demons. He had learned so much about them, but he had also learned, in passing, about The Slayer.

He had learned the true history of the Earth, how the First Slayer had been made, and how the spirit was passed on from one to the next so the forces of evil would always be pushed back. He had also Giles about his role as a Watcher. From him, he learned that a Watcher was assigned to a active Slayer to shape and guide her in her mission, helping here and there, but never too much. Watchers were in turn trained by the Council. The Council was, again, supposed to help shape and guide the Slayer, but it also did something else. It kept track of Potentials, girls who could be the Slayer when the current one died. Once that happened, the girl was to be separated from society and emotional attachments so she could fully focus on her mission.

Tobias called bullshit on the last few things. If the Council was made to serve the Slayer, why did they act like the Slayer served them? Why were they so powerful that they could take young girls and raise them to be cold, emotionless tools to be used as the Council wished? Giles had told him how he had been 'fired' as a Watcher for 'getting too emotionally involved' with Buffy by the Council and had sent a replacement. The new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam Pryce, had been a spineless idiot who couldn't even stand up for himself, according to what Buffy had told Giles. Giles went out of his way to help Buffy, whereas Wesley had stayed away from her outside of what he was required to do, and had sort of attempted to keep Willow and her other friends from helping her. What happened after that, Giles wouldn't tell him, but he guessed that Wesley had not stayed around for long.

When Tobias had asked about the Slayers before Buffy, Giles had said the rather unusual situations that had arose. Buffy had at one point been clinically dead, with no heartbeat. When that happened, the next Slayer had been awoken. However, Buffy had been saved and revived before she was irreversibly dead, only a minute after her heart had stopped. The result was two active Slayers at once, Buffy and a girl named Kendra Young. According to him, Kendra had been a "perfect" Slayer, taken from her family at a young age and raised by her Watcher for her time. Unlike Buffy at the time, Kendra saw being the Slayer as who she was and not as a job. She had also been cold and anti-social, with killing demons being first priority and saving humans second. She and Buffy had butted heads more than once before they learned to work together and learn from each other, Buffy to embrace that she was The Slayer, and Kendra to put saving people ahead of everything else. She had then been killed by another vampire, Drusilla, who had also been Spike's girlfriend. Buffy had killed her, but Kendra had been beyond saving and died, awakening the next Slayer in line.

This Slayer was named Faith Lehane, and she was night to Kendra's day. Unlike Kendra, Faith had been fun and gotten along great Buffy. She had done things differently, not using laid out plans, but normally making it up as she went along, but she had still been a good Slayer by all accounts. Unfortunately, she had been raised by an abusive father and her mother hadn't been the best either. When she was Awakened and became The Slayer, she ran away from home with her Watcher, who was later killed by a powerful vampire. She slowly became jealous of Buffy's life, having a loving mother and friends while she had nothing. Eventually things came to a head and she broke off from the group, only to be picked up by the Mayor. He became the father figure Faith had apparently never had and he showed her affection she had longed for. Long story short, she had been brought over to the "dark side" and became the Dark Slayer. She and Buffy had fought just before the high school thing and the Mayor becoming a demon that Buffy had mentioned, which resulted in Faith being left in a coma, which she was still in.

Tobias wondered if it was possible for the Council to have helped Faith, and they hadn't because they didn't care. If that was the case, he was knocking them down a peg when he met them. Or maybe he'd just stick with punching them.

"Ah, cut it out. What's done is done and you can't change it." Tobias said to himself as he shook his head to clear it. It was such a nice day that he wouldn't let thoughts like these ruin it. Now, the question was what to do with it. Maybe look around town, see the sights. He stopped as another idea hit him. "Ok, that'll do." He looked around and didn't see any people in sight. Still, paranoia told him to find a more private spot for what he was about to do. With that in mind, he quickly backtracked to Giles building and stopped in the courtyard. Another glance to make sure he was alone and he smiled. "Oh, this will be good." He said, rubbing his hands together.

He bent his knees and flexed his legs before there was a burst of air that tore through the area a Tobias went up and up and up, higher and higher until he was several hundred feet in the air.

Tobias smiled as he looked at the ground below him. This was easily his favorite power. The ability to fly with nothing more then a thought, with gravity pulling at him and the air currents up high swirling and pushing all around. And the best part was people never noticed him unless they looked up, which they seldom did.

"Ok, let's see," he looked out at the landscape, looking for something in particular and spotted it. "There you are." He vanished with a black streak going across the sky.

* * *

><p>Buffy sighed as she got her lunch and headed outside to eat. It was a nice day and classes had been tiring, so she wanted to eat outside to relax.<p>

"Buffy, wait for me!" She looked to see Willow running to catch up with her,mal so with her lunch. "Hey, where are you heading? I thought we were going to eat together."

"Oh, sorry Will. I was just heading outside to eat and I've got a lot on my mind, so you kinda...slipped my mind." Buffy finished awkwardly.

"Oh, ok. Well, is it ok if I join you outside?"

"Sure."

The two of them walked out of the mess hall and took a seat under a nearby tree in the shade.

"So how're your classes?" Willow asked.

"Eehh, ok. Professor Walsh is getting a bit hard to listen too though." Buffy said as she took a bit of her sandwich, talking about their Psychology teacher.

"Yes, I noticed that when you were spacing out in class." Willow said sadly and quietly. Buffy wondered what had brought out sad Willow before she remembered. Then she had to refrain from smacking her own head for her stupidity.

Oz had been in their psych class, before there was a whole big mess that had resulted in him breaking up with Willow and leaving to get himself under control. He was a werewolf, and recently there had been a full moon. Normally, he'd lock himself in a cage built personally by him, but he had accidentally broken out and ran into another transformed werewolf, this one female. He had woken up in the woods with her, naked, and she had clearly remembered what they had done. Afterwards she kept trying to get Oz to "let the wolf out" and accept what he was. When he wouldn't, she had gone after Willow, seeing her as the one that Oz was locking himself up for. Oz was forced to kill her when they were both wolfed out and had left, determined to find a cure or at least a way to control his condition.

Willow had been heartbroken and still was. She did her best to hide it, but it was still obvious to her.

"I'm sorry." Buffy said, putting a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder.

"No, no, it's fine. It's just...hard. Right now. But it'll get better, right?" She looked almost pleadingly at Buffy.

"Yeah, it'll get better." 'But it's going to take time.' Buffy privately thought to herself.

Just as she was trying to cast her thoughts for another, less depressing subject, the tree branches above them rustles and some leaves floated down, followed by "Hey girls."

Both of them jerked and looked up. Tobias was on the branch directly above them and was hanging from it by his legs, knees around the branch while his hands were behind his head. He also looked amused at what Buffy knew were shocked expressions.

"How long have you been up there?" Buffy asked.

"Just got here. I've been Giles house for the past few hours and thought I'd swing by, say hello. So, hello."

"B-but you shouldn't be here!" Willow said. "Visitors aren't allowed on campus during school hours, you can get into a lot of trouble!"

"Uh-hu." Tobias swung himself up to grab the branch he was on, move and brach his feet, then push off to land feet-first on the ground a few feet from them. "Willow, you seem to forget that I'm not a part of this town, so excuse me if I'm not concerned about breaking a rule or two to visit my friends." He said, sitting down next to them. "Besides, whatever trouble I get in, I can guarantee I've been in worse."

"But..."

"Willow. Your concern is touching, and I appreciate it, but I don't need you to worry yourself over me. I can take care of myself and handle my problems. So please drop it."

"Ok." She mumbled, looking at the ground.

"So, what did you learn at Giles?" Buffy asked, taking another bite of her lunch.

"Everything there was to know about slaying vampires. Stakes, sunlight, crosses, holy water, may be cut off their head if all else fails."

"Sounds about right. Still, we'll see how you put that knowledge to use tonight." Buffy knew there was a very big difference between learning how to kill demons and actually doing it, as she could testify. "I'll lend you a stake."

"Thanks, but I won't need one. I've got a lot of ideas that I want to test out before I kill one."

"Like what?" Buffy said flatly. People who 'tested' their ideas on demons normally were either scum, or idiots who had no idea what they were doing and ended being killed shortly after their experiments began.

"Well, I know that vampires can be killed by natural sunlight, but have you tried artificial sunlight?"

"You mean UV light?" Willow asked.

"Yeah. Have you tried using that on them, seeing if it works?"

"No. No, but that's a really good idea," Willow said, looking excited. "If we could use artificial sunlight against them, it wouldn't just kill vampires, it could keep them away from us entirely. What other ideas did you have?"

'It's good the old Willow is still in there' Buffy thought with a slight smile. She always got so excited when there was something new to learn or new ideas to toss around. Even with Oz's departure, that hadn't changed.

"One of them is sort of personal, but... Aw, screw it, I'll tell you." Tobias finished, seeing Willow start looking like a kicked puppy when he said the first part, only to perk up at the end. "Crosses is the base for my next idea. You've used them right?"

"Yep. Just slap a cross on a vampire, starts smoking and hurting and actually being a little whiny." Buffy thought out loud. "I prefer wood, but I know stone and metal works."

"Yeah, I'm thinking something a bit more...radical. Here," Tobias looked around a bit to make sure they were alone, Buffy doing the same out of habit. "Ok, watch this."

Buffy and Willow leaned forward as he stretched out his right hand, palm up and eyebrows knit together in focus. They watched as the air seemed to... gain color. As insane as it sounded, Buffy and Willow watched as the air turned white and flowed like water, swirling and condescending until it made a small cross, two inches wide and tall, resting on his palm.

"This..." Tobias held it up with a smirk on his face. "Is what I want to test."

"Oh, that is cheating." Buffy snatched the cross and examined every inch, her lunch forgotten in her disbelief as she felt the cross was completely solid. "Oh, this is _cheating!_ You can't just make a cross out of nothing!"

"It's not made of nothing." Tobias said. "Willow, you have any ideas?"

"Buffy, can I..."

"Oh, sure, Will." Buffy handed the cross to the redhead.

"Wow, this is...really interesting." Willow said, turning the cross over in her hands and attempting to bend it to test how solid it was. It didn't budge an inch. "Ok, so it's not made of nothing... Maybe you can extract something from the space around you?" She asked Tobias.

"You're on the right track, but I don't extract anything. Instead I manipulate it..." He gave her a hint, wondering if she would remember last night.

She apparently did, since her eyes went wide as she looked at the cross, then him again. "It's made of air?"

"Give the pretty girl a prize!" Tobias clapped his hands. "Exactly right. That cross is made out of air condensed so much that you can touch it easily while being maintained by my thoughts and willpower. Basically. It's a lot more complicated than that, but I don't really bother with the long explanations."

He snapped his fingers, but Buffy suspected that it was just for effect, and the cross dissolved like milk in water until it was all gone, leaving a slightly blushing Willow empty handed.

"I might have a few other ideas, but those are still in the works. I need some actual face to face time with a vampire to get some more." Tobias said, before grabbing Buffy's sandwich, which she had set down, and stealing a bite.

"Hey, that's my lunch!" She snatched it away from him, mock angry.

"And now part of it is on its way to my stomach. Your point?" Tobias asked after he swallowed.

"Keep it up smart guy, and we'll see how you like getting your ass handed to you." She warned.

"And I suppose the one who would be doing that is you?" He challenged, leaning forwards at the same time she did.

"Yeah, it would."

Neither backed down from the other or looked away, but kept their eyes locked on each other. Buffy fully expected the guy to make some arrogant claim about how he had beaten her last night and could easily do it again. Her response to that would be to then punch him when he was off guard and comment he'd gotten lucky.

Finally, Tobias smirked. "I look forward to sparring with you. We can see how we stack up when you're on guard." He stood up and brushed off his jeans. "Well, I'll be looking around town and be back at your moms house around 8. Give me a call when you're coming."

"K. Hey, how'd you get here anyways?" Buffy asked, a bit surprised by his earlier response but not letting it show.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. Bye!" He called over his shoulder as he ran through the courtyard, heading for one of the exits.

"That was nice." Willow said as she watched him go.

"Yeah, I guess." Buffy muttered the last two words under her breath. Something about Tobias just felt off. He was a nice guy and everything, but when he had been looking into her eyes and she into his, it was like looking in a mirror. She saw deeply hidden pain and guilt under the surface of happiness or content or whatever it was on the surface. Plus she had a feeling those powers of his were not, by any means, natural. Like he was getting them from something else, like she got her Slayer speed and strength from the spirit of the Slayer.

"Buffy? You ok?" Willow asked, seeing the thoughtful look on her face.

"Hhmm? Yeah, yeah, fine. Just thinking too hard. Hey, what time is it?"

"Um," Willow checked her watch. "Twenty minutes until our next class."

"Well, let's eat fast." Buffy said, starting to wolf down her food.

* * *

><p>"So can I ask again why <em>everyone <em>is here?" Tobias asked as they walked.

"Xander claims he had nothing to do tonight, Anya goes where Xander goes, and Willow patrols with me sometimes anyways."

"Right~ Xander had _nothing_ to do. I say you just wanted to come with to see how the 'new guy' does didn't you?"

"No! That is...not a hundred percent true." Xander trailed off, not looking at Tobias.

"No, I wanted to come and threatened him with no sex for the next month if he didn't let me go." Anya said without any shame.

The group was walking through one of the graveyards with Buffy and Tobias in front. Behind them from Tobias's right was Willow, Xander, and Anya. All of whom were armed with a cross and holy water to defend themselves. Buffy had her normal stake and back up stake, and Tobias had...nothing but the clothes on his back.

"So, this is what you've done for the past three years. Walking through graveyards."

"Yep. Doesn't contribute much of a social life, but it does get peaceful sometimes. Until a vampire shows up and tries to bite ya, then it gets really exciting."

"I bet. So how many do you get on average night?"

"Hhmm, four, sometimes eight if there's new ones rising from the grave."

"Oh, really? So there might be eight vampires running around here?" Xander asked, trying to (and failing) to hide his nervousness. "Well, that's just super. Hey, maybe we should go and let Buffy and Tobias do their thing."

"Do that and no orgasms for a month." Anya said firmly as she looked around them.

"Will you please stop saying things like that when we're with my friends!?"

"Ignoring the horny couple, how long does it take to find one? For that matter, how do you find a vampire? Wouldn't they avoid groups like us?" Tobias asked.

"Nah. Vampires go nuts if they go without drinking for too long until they'll do anything to get a sip of nice, tasty blood." Buffy said. "I just walk around and wait for one to find me, then it's time to get out Mr. Pointy."

Tobias looked at her. "Ok, you need to get a new name for your stake, because people can get the very wrong idea from hearing you say that."

"What idea?"

"'Time to get out Mr. Pointy.' Try saying that and then think of who you are saying it to."

Buffy blinked, then looked up while her lips moved silently. Then she blushed bright red as she caught his meaning, as did Willow.

"Perv!" She tried to punch Tobias only for him to duck and back away with his hands up.

"Hey, you said it, I'm just the guy pointing out the obvious." Tobias defended himself. "Besides, I've already got a girlfriend."

That made everyone pause.

"How do you already have a girlfriend? You've been in Sunnydale for two days." Xander asked in disbelief.

"I've got one back home. Meet her about a year ago, bit less." Tobias said, lowering his hands. "We've been together ever since then."

"Aw, that is so sweet." Willow said. "What's her name?"

"It's Yah... Watch out!" Tobias ran past Buffy and tackled Willow just as a form landed where she had been standing with a snarl. Xander and Anya both backed away quickly while Buffy charged in and spin kicked the form away, into a gravestone. "Are you ok?" Tobias asked as he helped Willow to her feet.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok." Willow said shakily. "How about a bit a warning next time, eh?"

"Didn't have time." Tobias said distracted. He was looking over the vampire that was getting to its feet with an animalistic growl. He was just in a suit that had dirt covering it, so he had apparently risen from the grave recently. His eyes were yellow, brow thick and jutting, and his fangs on full display. His hair was a unremarkable brown, and height wise, he was a few inches short then Tobias.

"Well, look at that. We found one." Xander said in a high pitched tone, holding his cross in front of him. "Now Buffy, please kill it!"

"No, no, no, no, this one is mine." Tobias said as he slowly walked towards the vampire, drawing it's attention. With a snarl it leapt at him. Tobias snapped up his hand and the vampire stopped, in mid-air, unable to move. It thrashed it's head back and forth, but otherwise didn't move a muscle.

"Oh, now again, that's cheating!" Buffy said, pointing at the demon.

"Relax, it's just so I can get a look at it," Tobias said. "And also test this." He lifted his right hand and the same cross Willow and Buffy had seen earlier former. It then floated to the vampire and pressed itself against its forehead. There was _hissssssssss_ and smoke rose from the vampire's skin as he yelled in pain. The cross dissolved a split second later into nothing.

"Ok, so it works. That's good to know." Tobias grinned. Then Buffy saw the grin turn hungry and his eyes shift to white, her instincts suddenly screaming in warning. "Now let's go vampire."

Said demon fell to the ground and wasted no time. He charged Tobias and led with a wild swing from the right, which he ducked under, delivering a savage punch to its midsection. He led up with a punch to the face, kick to the chest, and knocking it's legs out from under it.

"This is what you have to deal with every time you go patrolling Buffy?" He asked while watching the vampire get up.

"Yep." She said, watching the fight closely. "Why, too tough for you?"

"No." Tobias blocked an overhead swing. "I was thinking this is too easy." Tobias twisted the arm, forcing him to hunch over before quickly grabbing the head and twisting sharply.

A crack split the air while the vampires body crumbled away into dust.

"Um...wow." Xander said. "Just...wow."

"That was very impressive." Anya noted offhandedly.

"Yeah. I mean, you just took it down, just like that." Willow said.

Tobias shrugged, dusting off his hands. "I've had harder challenges then that before. This wouldn't even qualify as a warmup. Still, good way to test the cross thing and find out what the average vampire is like."

"That wasn't the average vampire. That was a newly made one that was starving. Ones like that are easy to deal with. Older ones are more dangerous. They know how to handle their hunger and depending on how old they are, they can be very good at fighting." Buffy lectured him. "If you run into a group of newer vampires or one really old one, be careful."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Tobias nodded as they regrouped and kept walking. "Are there any signs I should look for to find out what's an older vampire?"

"Look at the way he holds himself, his bearing. Older ones feel older, more powerful, and they looked experienced."

"Ok." Tobias nodded again. "Do older vampires have any special powers younger ones don't have?"

"No, they're just more dangerous on account of experience. Also they're very good at blending in and staying out of sight when hunting but you can normally still tell them from normal people if you know what to look for."

"Yeah, like if they look really really pale." Xander said. "Or talk funny or dress weird or if they suddenly sprout fangs."

"Thank you, Xander." Tobias rolled his eyes. "Is there any way of detecting vampires?"

"None that we've found, we just have to wander around looking for them or get ideas from people and events that have been reported." Buffy said.

"Really..." Tobias tapped his chin. "Hhmm. Let me try something."

The group stopped as Tobias closed his eyes and then sat down on nothing, crossing his legs and placing his hands flat on his knees. The posture combined with the fact he was floating a few feet off the ground made him look like he had achieved enlightenment.

"What are you doing?" Anya asked curiously.

Tobias cracked open an eye. "I've got a way of using my powers to sense everything in a wide radius. I do so by feeling where air is and where it is not. Now, if I fully understand how vampire biology works, they don't breath and have no pulse, so I look for something that does not have air in their bloodstream from having oxygen transported to their cells, and once I find something like that above ground, I have found a vampire."

"That is so cool!" Willow said enthusiastically. "Maybe I can figure out how to do something like that with magic."

"Maybe, but can everyone just be quiet? I need to concentrate." Tobias closed his eye and took some deep breaths, in and out slowly. He expanded his senses slowly, sending out "pulses" of awareness to paint of picture of the surrounding area. He saw Buffy and the others around him, the oxygen being carried by their blood tracing their circulatory system and heart beats. He saw the basic outlines of the tombstones around him, the buried caskets and trees all around him. It was easy to see this level of detail when it was focused, but he had to explain his search to find a vampire.

So he sent out pulses wider and wider, covering an increasing radius while losing clarity, but he knew what he was looking for. He stopped when he noticed someone walking through the graveyard. Except it seemed like they were looking around and moving violently. He concentrated his senses on that and found that there was no pulse pushing blood through the veins, and no air going in and out of the lungs.

"Found one. That way." Tobias pointed without opening his eyes.

"Ok, let's go hunting then." Buffy clapped her hands.

They spent the rest of the night hunting and dusting vampires.


	3. The Initiative part 1

**A/N: Before I start this chapter, I just want to make a few things clear. For those of you who have read Tobias's profile, you may notice that I haven't put in a few people. They'll come later. Secondly, I'll largely be following the TV show, but I need to fiddle with the timeline just a bit to properly fit in Tobias. Thirdly, Tobias will not be replacing Buffy as the Slayer. He'll be giving her some help with patrolling and the killing of various demons, but Buffy will still be the "boss" of the Scooby gang. Now, on to the story.**

Tobias had been in Sunnydale for about four days and had developed a fairly good "life" in the short time.

Joyce had put him to work around the house, helping to clean, organize, cook, and whatever else needed doing, including but not limited to:cleaning the gutters, painting the fence, helping her catalog things for her exhibit and whatever else she needed help with. None of which had proven difficult or even time consuming with him. She had also been remarkably accepting of his powers, once he had used it to dry the fence's new coat of paint instead of letting the sun do its job. She was also a perfect mother figure, normal, friendly, and making sure he was ok. It was...nice.

After getting his "chores" for the day done, he'd head over to Giles house to talk to him and learn more about demons in general, but also about Buffy, Willow, and the rest of the gang and their past adventures. As such, he had drawn similarities between him and the others.

Buffy was the strongest physically, but he already knew that from their few fights. She was also extremely protective of the people close to her and would go to any length to keep them safe. She had also had some relationships with several people, the first one being Angel, a two-hundred-year old vampire with a soul. He, Tobias found out, was indirectly responsible for one of the apocalypses Buffy had mentioned. Turned out Angel had really been named Angelus when he had first started out, and had been a ruthless and sadistic killer, toying with people before killing them like a cat toying with a mouse. He had then run into a group of gypsies who had cursed him with a soul, resulting in him regaining reason and humanity while remembering all the pain and suffering he had caused. He would forever, and if he ever experienced a moment of "true happiness" he would lose his soul, becoming the monster he had been again. That had happened with Buffy, and Angelus had kept pushing and pushing until she didn't have any choice but to kill him. Unfortunately, just before she had delivered the final blow, Willow had recreated the ritual that had given Angel his soul in the first place, allowing him to say goodbye before Buffy killed him.

Then, for reasons that still weren't fully understood, Angel had come back from the dimension where he was supposed to be suffering an eternity of punishment. But whatever had been between him and Buffy had been destroyed and he had departed for Los Angeles, where he was now running a private investigation firm. He hadn't been seen since then.

Willow was the highly intelligent upbeat, friendly, social person of the group, but in high school she had been a painfully shy and bullied teenager, resulting in low self esteem and nerves until she had meet Buffy. She was the one who had come up with the idea of the Scooby gang and it had stuck. She slowly gained confidence over the years until she had enough to start trying witchcraft, which according to Giles, she was remarkable talented at.

Xander was the heart of the gang and the goofball, always making jokes to lighten the mood and make people feel better. He was also uncomfortable around monsters and vampires, but he could be counted on when it mattered. Anya, his girlfriend, was a former revenge demon who had granted the vengeful wishes of woman who had had their hearts broken by men, until she had had her power source destroyed by an alternate Giles, resulting in her becoming mortal, and, through a series of events _**Giles**_ still didn't fully understand, ending up with Xander. She was still learning how to behave in society and what was acceptable and what wasn't though.

So Buffy was the leader that had suffered heartache and loneliness because of her destiny as the Slayer. Willow was the friendly and smart person who was always happy to make a new friend. Xander was the friendly guy always good for a joke or someone to talk to, and Anya was the misfit trying to learn how to fit in. Tobias figured he could make friends with them easily now that he knew what kind of people they were.

After talking with Giles, he would either look around Sunnydale and see the sights or drop in on Buffy and/or Willow between their classes to talk with them. Buffy was still on guard around him, but considering what her past experiences were, Tobias couldn't blame her. Willow was slowly starting to accept him and he found it fun talking with her. Her cheerful attitude was infectious and her way of talking just made it easier to like her.

As for his spare time, he found a way to occupy that too.

Flashback

Tobias was walking down one of the main streets just looking in the shop windows and taking in the sights to pass the time. He'd talked to Giles for the day and he had figured he'd leave Buffy and Willow alone for the day so that left sightseeing. He was also looking for way to occupy his time.

Reading was out, since all his favorite authors either didn't exist or weren't old enough to start writing, and while reading about demons was interesting, it wasn't how he wanted to occupy all his time. Training was also out, since he couldn't do his normal regime with the equipment available. A job...he had no proof he even existed here, so that was out before it could even be considered.

'Wish I had a hobby outside of fighting and reading, maybe then I could...' Tobias stopped before backing up to look at the shop he had just passed. It was an art shop, the window full of canvas stands, paintbrushes, paint containers, and several other kinds of tools for drawing and painting.

Tobias bit the inside of his lip. He'd never tried drawing before, but maybe it could help. Joyce had given him a bit of an allowance to buy clothes and anything else he needed, but he still had a bit left over. And he had something in mind he wanted to draw. Two somethings he might not see again for a long time otherwise...

Mind made up, Tobias stepped into the shop.

End flashback

He'd bought a black cover sketchbook and pencil set that day and had gone back to the house, sitting down on the porch with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil in his hand. The first pencil stroke was easy and all the ones after even easier. He'd spent the rest of the day doodling away, drawing faces he knew even better than his own. He hadn't let anyone see it though, not even Joyce when she had asked. It was a small piece of his life drawn on each page and until he was ready, he was going to keep it private.

* * *

><p>Tobias knocked on Giles door. Having finished his chores for the day and not feeling like drawing, he figured he'd stop by.<p>

"Come in." The british accented voice called.

He opened the door and stuck his head in. "Hey, is this a bad time?" He asked when he saw Xander sitting in one of the arm chairs with a book in his hands and Giles leaning over the coffee table with his back to him.

"Hhmm, hey Tobias." Xander looked up from his book. "Nah, just come in. Me and Giles were just killing time."

"Hhmm, yes." Giles said distractedly.

Tobias closed the door behind him and walked to look over Giles shoulder. He was sketching with a pencil on a pad of paper. On it was a human shape with a black ski mask and goggles, a shirt with black shoulder guards, camo pants, combat boots, and a machine gun in one hand.

"What are you drawing?" Tobias asked.

"Hhmm, people that have been seen around Buffy and Willow's school. Based on descriptions from Buffy, they look something like this." Giles explained, picking it up and showing Xander.

Xander leaned in before nodding. "The latest in fall fashion. I like it. A bit full in the hips for my taste, but otherwise..."

Tobias took the drawing while Giles said, "Well, I think we can safely assume they're human, so...no research needed." He sighed, picking up a blue coffee mug next to him and drinking from it.

"No studying?" Xander said in a mock shocked voice, closing his book. "Damn. Next thing you'll tell me is that I'll have to eat jelly donuts or sleep with a supermodel to get things done around here, I ask you, how much can one man give?" He asked, pointing at Giles accusingly.

"Not too much I'm afraid. Um, once again, I'd say you and I will not be needed to help Buffy."

Xander blinked. "Really?"

Giles shrugged. "Really."

"Ok, well how about this? We whip out the Ouija board, light a few candles, summon some ancient unstoppable evil. Mayhem, mayhem, we show up and kick its ass."

Tobias and Giles both looked at him before Tobias broke the silence.

"That has to be one of the stupidest plans I've ever heard and I've heard of some stupid plans. In fact I've been part of them."

"Not to mention a bit unethical." Giles added as the door opened and Buffy walked in.

"Hello people." She said.

"Hey," Tobias and Xander said at the same time. Buffy looked at the drawing Tobias was holding.

"Hhmm, it's my late night storm trooper."

"Yes, it's uh, it's just for reference. It's fairly accurate, wouldn't you say?" Giles asked.

"That's your man." Buffy nodded.

"Your man actually. You two are patrolling tonight, aren't you?"

"Nope." Buffy said. "I am going to a party tonight. Hopefully a no-fighting, no-biting kinda deal."

"Buffy, somebody needs to find out who these people are." Giles said, taking off his glasses.

"I can tell you right now." Tobias said, dropping the pad on the table. "US government, probably military."

"Are you sure?" Giles asked, picking up the picture and looking at it.

"Giles. I have much experience with the government. Based on what you've told me about this town and the general stupidity of the military in general, I'm surprised this town isn't locked down and quarantined already."

"And Giles, I live in a dorm now," Buffy said flatly. "The girls in my hall want to party, Willow needs some cheering up, and I am going to take her."

Giles grimaced slightly and looked away. Tobias felt like he was intruding on a private moment.

Xander cleared his throat. "How's Will doing..."

"With the black hole of despair she's been living in ever since Oz left?" Buffy shrugged. "She's dealing, I'm helping, ergo party." She addressed Giles with the last remark. "You three can go patrol tonight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find something slutty to wear tonight."

And with that comment, Buffy turned and walked out the door while Xander looked like he had a bunch of new images in his head thanks to that comment. Tobias looked between him and Giles.

"Dare I ask who Oz is?"

* * *

><p>Tobias walked through the campus of Buffy and Willow's university while trying to come to terms with what he had learned. He didn't have trouble believing Oz was a werewolf. He had trouble believing that Willow was in pain and he hadn't noticed. Now he was smacking himself in the head for not trying to help her.<p>

In any case, he was here for two reasons. One was to find Willow and apologize for not helping (even if he'd barely know her for a week, he still felt bad). The second reason was to try and find out more about those "commandos" that had been seen around. If they hung around here, that meant they had a base, either hiding in plain sight or maybe underground.

He went into one of the buildings and navigated through the crowds, but stopped when he heard "What's the scoop on Buffy Summers?" From one as he walked past. Tobias casually stopped and leaned against a pillar like he was waiting for someone while looking at the group out of the corner of his eye.

A group of guys huddled around a decent looking teen in a red shirt with a black backpack over his right shoulder. A bald African American man that looked older in a red open shirt, a black t-shirt underneath and a dark green bag over his shoulder, plus another good looking man that had brown, wavy hair, jeans, and a army green shirt.

"Buffy?" The red shirted teen asked, looking around. "Eehh, she's alright I guess. I mean, kinda whiny."

"How's that?" The African asked.

"Well, you know. Clingy. I mean we got a little physical," he stopped to chuckled and scratch the side of his nose. "Well, fully physical. And then she's all over me, like we're betrothed or something."

Tobias nodded to himself. That made sense. After Buffy's relationship with Angel, she would crave love and love came from intimacy. But this guy was talking about her like he was confused by that.

"But fun was had, yeah?"

The red shirt chuckled. "Oh, yeah. The word is stamina. I mean, definitely bunny in the sack, but later on...well, you know the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet seat. The toilet seat doesn't follow you around after you use it."

The green shirt man looked like he was about to punch red shirt, but Tobias decided he'd heard enough. His green eyes flashed to silver, unnoticed, while red shirts' head snapped back like he'd been punched and hit the floor with his left cheek already started to swell.

'Insult my friend like that again smart guy, and we'll see how you do without a nutsack.' Tobias thought maliciously while he felt his eyes fade back to their "normal" color and the others helped up red shirt.

After the group part ways with red shirt, Tobias decided to follow them. He had a hunch that he wanted to check on and shadowed them, following close enough to hear but far enough to look like he was just going the same way as them.

"You guys saw that right?" Green shirt asked the African and another on of his friends with a yellow frisbee in one hand.

"Yeah, that was weird. It looked like he was punched, which it looked like you were about to do." Red shirt said quietly. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could've gotten into if you did?"

"Yeah, well I didn't. And besides, even if I did, Parker would've been too embarrassed."

"But why did you try to hit him in the first place?"

"He...he was just being so crude."

"Oh please," redshirt said with a wave of his hand. "Joe has said much cruder things then that."

"Yeah, but most of those are about your own mother." Green shirt said, getting a good nature smack to the back of the head as a response. "I just..." They stopped walking and Tobias took a seat at a near by bench as the other two turned to green shirt. "I just didn't like hearing him talk about Buffy that way. I think...Well I guess I like her."

Tobias cocked an eyebrow as the red shirt chuckled. "You're kinda like a moron."

Green looked at red. "So you...you knew that I had feelings for her?"

"Everybody knows man." Frisbee guy said.

"'Oh, she's peculiar.' Dead giveaway buddy." Red shirt said in a 'duh' tone of voice.

Green shirt looked between them and said with a slight smile, "Always the last to know."

"So whatcha gonna do?" Red asked.

Green seemed to debate before a smile spread over his face. "Well, I guess I'm going to see a girl." He then turned and walked away, right past Tobias.

'Ah. Young love.' Tobias thought to himself, then laughed. He was too young to be saying things like that. Still this solved a nice problem he had, which was the fact he had no clue where Buffy and Willow's dorm room was. 'Guess it's time to follow the leader.' He got up and followed after green shirt, staying close behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tobias learned a good number of things sitting outside the door to Willow and Buffy's room (whoever had designed these walls needed to recheck their work. He could hear everything through them.) Aside from the fascinating tidbits he heard about Buffy (she has a stuffed pig named Mr. Gordo?) and how much Willow apparently loathed herself (he made a note to help Willow get over her insecurity issues.), but how Riley, which was apparently green shirt names, really liked Buffy but needed help with talking with her. So he was recruiting Willow as an "accomplice" until she said she was not an accomplice, just helping out. He quickly got off the ground and looked like he was walking past as Riley came out of the room. He waited until he was gone, then went back to the door and knocked.

"Riley, I can't help you until tonight, so just...go away."

Tobias opened the door and stuck his head eyes immediately went to Willow who was on a bed on his left, curled up and hugging a pillow close while listening to some extremely depressing music. "I'm don't need any help tonight, but I can come back later if you want..." He made like he meant to close the door.

"Tobias? No, no, no, wait, you can come in!" Willow hurriedly said to correct herself while turning off her music.

"Thanks." Tobias walked in and closed the door behind him. He took a closer look at the room. It looked like the left side was willows and the right Buffy's. Aside from some posters, books, and some personal touches, both sides looked the same.

"So, so what brings you here? How did you even find here?" Willow asked.

"I followed Riley," Tobias jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I heard him mention he was going to see Buffy, and I remembered that you and Buffy share a dorm room, so, here I am." He said, absently making a "air chair" to sit down on and in the process doing a fantastic mime impression.

"Ok, but...why are you here? And how are you doing that?" Willow asked as she saw him sitting on...well, nothing.

"I took mime classes. Best mime they ever saw apparently. I also do a great trapped in a box routine if you want to see."

"No, no, no thanks I'm good." Willow said. She fidgeted on her bed, unsure of how to proceed so Tobias decided to get down to business.

"Just so you know Will, I didn't just come here because I wanted to visit. But that's a plus too." Tobias added, leaning forward in his chair. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Willow blinked. "Sorry? B-but for what?"

Tobias sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I was over at Giles and Buffy dropped by and...well I won't bore you with the details but I just learned about..." Should he mention the name? It would hurt hurt, but he couldn't just say he learned about just anyone. "Oz."

"Oh." Willow's eyes went from confused to showing the deep and horrible pain she was feeling. Tobias was shocked he hadn't noticed it before and that she had hidden it so well until now. It was a startling difference from her normal happy, supportive attitude. "W-why are you apologizing? You didn't have anything to do with it."

"No. No, I didn't, but I still feel guilty for not noticing you were in pain and that I wasn't helping. So, I'm sorry Willow. For not helping you." Tobias said, bowing his head to look at the floor.

"Hey. Hey, don't be getting guilty on my account, I don't like that." Willow said, swinging her legs off the bed and getting up. "I prefer making people happy, not sad. And besides, you had your own problems to deal with."

"What problems Willow?" Tobias chuckled. "You mean the part where I'm stuck here, or the part where I'm currently living in Joyce's spare room at Buffy's so I have a place to stay? Don't answer that," he said when he saw Willow open her mouth. "My point is, what problems? So I can't get home, big whoop. I will eventually. So I'm living in Joyce's spare room, again, big whoop. I've stayed in worse places than a house with a mother looking over my shoulder. I don't have any pressing problems at the moment Willow, ergo, I feel bad for not helping you with your problems."

"Really, it's, it's fine Tobias, you don't have to worry about me." Willow said, looking down. "I'm nothing special."

Tobias stared at her. "Willow?"

"Hhmm." She looked up just in time to get a flick to forehead. "Ow!"

"Ok, I probably shouldn't have, but I heard your little rant about how you aren't anything special with Riley. And I'm saying right here, right now, you are something special." Tobias started ticking off the points on his fingers. "Being brutally honest, you're smart, you're extremely pretty, you're unbelievably friendly, and from Giles accounts, you're a very powerful witch. Anybody who calls you 'nothing special' is either an idiot, which you are not, or somebody who needs somebody else to talk to."

"I-I guess, but I..." Willow stuttered, looking embarrassed with the praise.

"Ok, Willow do me a favor." Tobias held his hands to stop what he had a feeling would be an excuse. "Don't think of me as a friend that doesn't need to have your problems added to his. Just think of me as someone who will listen to you."

"Like a psychologist?" Willow asked.

"If that's what'll get you to stop asking questions and start talking, then sure. Think of me as your shrink."

"Ok. Ok, um... where should I start? I've never done this before."

Tobias smacked his forehead. When a guy came looking for help to talk to/ask out the girl he liked, she could rant, but ask her to rant and she asked for help doing it. "Ok, um...bitterness, what are you bitter about? Anything at all, just tell me."

Willow opened her mouth, then closed it, glancing at the ceiling in thought. "Well...I don't like how Buffy has been lately?"

"Are you asking me or telling me." Tobias said flatly. "Willow, this is you we're talking about. There is no right answer or wrong answer. Just be honest and give me an answer."

"All right. I don't like how down Buffy has been lately." Willow said, firmer and more confidently.

"Ok, why has Buffy been down lately?"

"Ok, well, there was this really bad douchebag that Buffy meet a while ago. At first he was great, you know, fun, attractive, talked about intimacy and everything that Buffy looks for in a guy. Long story short they kinda...well, you know."

"I can guess." Tobias nodded. "And I'm also sensing a but..."

"Yeah, well, we kinda found out he was douchebag afterwards when he didn't call. Then Buffy found him on campus again and it turned out he was just looking for a good time. It really tore her up."

"Question." Tobias held up a finger. "Would this 'douche bags' name happen to be Peter? About yeh tall," Tobias held up his hand. "Black hair, eyes that drive people crazy."

"Yeah. Yeah that's him, how'd you know?" Willow asked.

"Well I heard Riley's friends asking him about Buffy and...well his description warranted an invisible punch in the face. Think I might've knocked a tooth loose too. So, tell Buffy that the next time you see her please."

"Wow. And you look like you'd never hurt a fly." Willow said, shaking her head.

"Course not, what did a fly ever do to me? But please, continue."

"Ok, um, what else what else? I don't like how fate seems to stringing Buffy along. You know,she's saved the world three four times now, but she can't even get a day off to relax?"

"Fair enough." Tobias said. Willow was getting more and more passionate, so if he subtly nudged her, he might get her to face her problem. "What about how people treat you?"

"Oh, I can't stand it sometimes." Willow said, holding her hands like she wanted to strangle something. "I ask my psych teacher to keep a spot open for Oz for when he comes back, and you know what she said? No! That she doesn't make exceptions and yet that my exception is somehow exceptional enough for her to make an exception, when I was just asking for something so my boyfriend can rejoin the class when he comes back!"

She was on the right track, now she just needed to keep going. "But you think she said no for a different reason?"

"Yeah, I do! And I think it's because life loves screwing with me!" Willow said, now getting angry. "I mean, look at me! I loved Xander, my best friend, for years without him noticing, ever! Then when I did, it was because I was seeing someone else at the time! And the only reason I went out with Oz in the first place was to make him jealous, but then I felt guilty later because I really like Oz, even if he was a werewolf! And then we got a really good relationship going and we really enjoyed each other's company. Then that stupid werewolf Veruca had to come along and ruin everything!"

Tobias noticed she was starting to tear up and her voice was breaking. "She tried to take him away, and she tried to kill me to do it. And then...and then he left. He left me."

She sat down on the bed, sobbing into her hands while Tobias quietly went to sit next to her, then put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. The redhead clung close to him while she let out all her pent up frustration and despair. He could tell she had needed this desperately, but she had been keeping it locked up inside so she didn't worry her friends. And he spoke from experience when he said that was not healthy and could lead to some very bad thoughts or actions. Last time that had happened to him, he had almost killed himself from sleep deprivation.

"It's ok, it's ok. Just let it out," Tobias said quietly, slowly rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Nobody else is here. You can just let it out."

He let Willow have as long as she needed, and it was a good thing he didn't have any plans on going anywhere, because it took half an hour before she stopped. She went from sobbing to quiet crying and to sniffling and finally to the occasional hiccup.

"Better?" He asked when she finally stopped.

She sniffed before pulling away. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had tear tracks that were slightly black from her makeup. His shirt had a large wet spot from all her tears.

"Better," she whispered, wiping her eyes with her sleeves and looking...lighter. "Sorry about your shirt." She said, noticing the mess she had made on him.

"Don't be. If it helped you cope, I was fine with it." Tobias said, waving off the apology. "I could tell you needed to let out that grief you were carrying."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did." She said, pulling herself back together. She hadn't had a chance to properly mourn Oz's leaving because things kept coming up. Demons attacking, vampires trying to kill them, school work, details in her friends life that needed addressing. Plus she hadn't wanted to add to their burdens with her own problems. It had been hard, keeping it bottled up and out of sight. Now that she had let it out though, she felt better. Lighter, like she had dropped boulders she had been carrying without even realizing it. She then realized something. "Hey...you planned this!" She said, pointing at him accusingly.

"You mean I planned to have you let out your feelings of self hate, grief, anger, and depression by asking you seemingly innocent questions before slowly moving towards your real problems? And that I came up with how to do this when I was sitting outside and happened to hear your little rant with Riley?" Tobias asked innocently. "In what, the five minutes it took to get in, get comfortable and start talking? That plan?"

"Yes." Willow said simply.

"Oh darn, you caught me." Tobias said flatly before chuckling at her expression of rage. Which did not look at all frightening considering she still had bloodshot eyes and her teeth were bared in a childish way. "Willow, you needed it. And if you wouldn't do it on your own, then I needed to give you a push so you would. I had good intentions for this."

Willow's anger deflated with each point he made until it went from being a balloon the size of the Hellmouth to a deflated piece of rubber the size of the Hellmouth.

"Remind me to not introduce you to Professor Walsh. You two could...brainwash the entire class or something."

"Walsh?"

"Uh, yeah Maggie Walsh. She's my psychological teacher. She's actually a world renowned psychologist, but she took a class here this year. We're pretty lucky to have her."

Tobias's alarm bells were starting to ring. A undercover military presence at Buffy's college, and a famous psychologist just happened to take a class the same time that they arrived? He smelled something fishy, and he was going to do some digging.

"I bet. I actually might have to meet her, she sounds like an interesting person." He stood up and smiled. "I'm glad you're feeling better Willow. And if you ever need to talk, don't hesitate to ask please."

"Ok." She said, nodding.

"I mean it Will, if you need to talk about something, then come find me."

"Ok, ok, I promise. That satisfy you?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"For now. I'll see you later." He walked to the door and opened it, then stopped. "By the way, I heard there's going to be a party tonight. Is that private or can anyone join?" He looked over his shoulder.

"What? Oh. Oh, no, no, it's...yeah, anyone can go. It's uh, at 8 at the..."

"Just needed the time. I can probably find the place by the sound of loud music and things breaking." He smirked. "See you tonight then. Oh, and don't think I'm hitting on you either please. I already have a girlfriend."

He walked out and closed the door before he could hear her response, but he had a feeling she was blushing and maybe debating about throwing something at the closed door. His smile slipped out his face as he thought about what she had told him about Professor Walsh.

'I wonder...' Tobias looked quickly and saw a few people in the hall. He took a breath and closed his eyes. He tapped into his power and fired an Air Pulse, the same ones he had been using on patrol to find vampires. He had a hunch he was hoping was dead wrong, or they were all in deep trouble.

The pulse raced outwards, giving him exact details and outlines close to him and getting blurrier the farther away it went. He saw the buildings, basements, rooms, people, everything with varying degrees of sharpness. As the pulse kept getting farther and farther, he started relaxing. Maybe, just maybe, the universe wouldn't prove him...

Wait a minute. One of the buildings had a large amount of air underneath it, and it wasn't from a basement. For one thing, he didn't see any cleaning supplies or anything like that in it. For another...the air indicated the space it was occupying was larger than the building above. Stomach sinking, Tobias concentrated his powers on that specific spot for more details.

The area was large alright, large enough to house the building above it and have room to spare. It also had tunnels that snaked all over campus and towards the nearby woods and town. There were a lot of people walking around, or maybe running. Like they were looking for something. Regardless, he had found what he was looking for. The universe had proved him right.

"I really hate it when I'm right." He said, opening his eyes to show silver in them. He had just found a military base that was hidden directly under Buffy and Willow's school. And that spelled **_TROUBLE_ **in giant red letters.

* * *

><p>Tobias spent the next few hours sitting under a tree out in the courtyards, looking like he was taking a nap to the rest of the world. When in fact he was tracing the paths to and from what seemed to be the nerve center of the base, located underneath the dorm house. He tried to get accurate looks at everything, the best he could with his Air Pulses.<p>

The room under the dorm was the nerve center all right, but it seemed to be more. It had a large depression several hundred feet long, wide, and deep. It had several people crowding around tables that seemed to have demons restrained to them. He could tell they weren't humans by their shapes, and the horns, claws, and various other physical quirks. Outside the pit were military vehicles, some weapon storage areas, and several computer stations. Other rooms seemed to be smaller rooms but built along the same lines. Weapon and uniform storage, changing rooms, what looked like surgery rooms, research and computer rooms. The tunnels were what he expected, but some led to the forest before opening to the air, deep within the woods. Maybe a back door, or the place where they had started building this base. Another entrance was an elevator shaft to the inside of the dorm. One more thing he noticed was there was holding cells, and the occupied ones were holding demons he'd never seen or vampires.

'You've been very busy haven't you?'

Tobias took a breath and yawned, looking like he was waking up. He had learned all he could from long distance and air pulse observation, there was no point in staying here longer. Besides, a quick look at the sun showed that the party was due to start in a hour or so. A party that would be held, if he wasn't mistaken from what he saw, in the dorm with the base hidden under it. This just kept getting better and better.

He got up and brushed off his jeans. The night life tonight promised to be interesting, and he wanted to be ready for any surprises that came his way.

* * *

><p>Willow and Buffy both stepped into the dorm and the party. As expected with a college party, it was loud, crowded, and if one looked close enough, you could see they all had drinks in their hands or close by. Most likely alcohol or spiked with it. As for the layout, there was a carpeted dance floor directly in front of them that was full of people that were dancing. On the far side was a wall and a staircase that went to the second floor. To the right of the dance floor was a fireplace that had flames flickering away. Behind the fireplace was a sitting room and then a kitchen across from that. Trays of snacks were scattered here and there.<p>

Buffy looked around and smiled at Willow. "Looks cool."

"Uh-hu." Willow said, pulling at her sleeves. She was wearing shirt that was decorated with a yellow and brown pattern that looked like maple leaves, red jeans, and her normal sneakers.

"Look, we can go." Buffy said, seeing that Willow looked uncomfortable. She was dressed differently that Willow, in a brown halter top, black dress pants, and attractive but practical shoes. He hair was also up in a bun and she had applied very light makeup.

"No, no. We came here to have fun, and that's what we're going to do." Willow said. She refused to let her insecurities get the best of her. Like Tobias had said earlier, she was not nothing and she refused to let people go around saying she was anymore.

"Ok. Well." Buffy responded, still not totally convinced Willow was ok with this. "Oh look, some of the guys are here already." She pointed across the room near the staircase.

"Um, I'm going to grab a soda. I'll come find you guys." Willow excused herself. She needed to find Riley and let him know how to act.

"Ok." Buffy said back before heading towards the group. Willow looked around and spotted Riley leaning against a banister near the boundary of the kitchen and living room with a cup. She casually walked over and put her back to him, arms crossed.

"Okay, she's wearing the halter top with sensible shoes. That means mostly dancing, light contact, but don't push your luck. Heavy conversations is out of the question." Willow said quickly.

Riley nodded nervously "So what do I do?"

Willow rolled her eyes. No wonder he needed help.

"Ask her to dance."

"Right. Dance. Wait. No." He said, sounding vaguely panicky and turning to look right at Willow, who turned to do the same.

"What's the matter?"

He swallowed nervously. "I can't dance."

Willow thought quickly and nodded. "Then talk. Keep eye contact. Funny is good, but don't be glib." Riley nodded again and looked towards Buffy. Before he could leave, Willow added with a determined face. "And remember, if you hurt her, I will beat you to death with a shovel." The blonde looked at Willow, not having expected a threat like that from the friendly redhead. She shrugged. "A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Have fun." She said with a smile, patting his shoulder in support.

Riley nodded and took a shaky breath, then drank from his cup before he went to talk to his crush, looking slightly sweaty.

"So do you say that to all the guys that try and date Buffy or is he just special?"

Willow jumped and looked to see Tobias standing right behind her with an amused look on his face.

"Don't do that, you scared me!" She said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Should I be worried about getting a death threat then? Or maybe being turned into a rabbit or blasted through a wall." Tobias laughed at the childishly angry look on her face. Willow just couldn't pull off a serious angry look. Or maybe she could and he just didn't want to see it. "You look nice by the way."

"Oh, thanks. You...look like you." Willow said. She couldn't really say he had dressed up. His clothes always seemed to consist of black shirt, long and short sleeve, and jeans. The only constant was his leather gauntlet/bracelet. "Did you just go out and buy the same outfit over and over?"

"No, had to stop at a few stores to find comfortable jeans." Tobias said. "I can't help it. This is what I'm comfortable in. Any really bright colors make me feel exposed."

"You need a new fashion sense." Willow shook her head, acting sad.

"Speaking of new, I think Riley is choking over there." Tobias brought up, nodding in the direction of Buffy and the older teen. He couldn't see them since there was a fireplace in the way, but he could tell he was nervous. Air going in and out of his lungs faster and his heart rate had increased. A honed application of Air Pulse turned him into a human lie detector, or in this case, nervousness detector.

"Really?" Willow quickly moved to find a place to watch, Tobias following just for the fun of it. They looked around to see Riley sweating and trying to talk while Buffy was apparently confused.

"He's choking alright. And it's about to come to a head..." Tobias trailed off as he saw Riley's lips move. "He choked. He just asked Buffy if she did the reading for chapter nine?"

"Oh, he's professor Walsh's TA." Willow told him as Riley picked up a piece of cheese with a toothpick in it and offer it to her.

"Oh, poor guy," Tobias shook his head. "Probably the heartthrob of several girls on this campus and he can't talk to the girl he likes."

"Hey, it's hard. Buffy isn't your normal girl, and besides, I bet you weren't the smoothest guy when you asked out your girlfriend for the first time."

Tobias looked at her before he started snorting. He put a hand to his mouth to keep in his amusement. "Willow, if you knew how I met my girlfriend, you wouldn't believe it."

"Try me." Willow said, crossing her arms.

"No, don't think I will. Not yet anyways. But I will tell you I met her, and things went from normal to crazy." Tobias chuckled. Willow saw his eyes turn from amused to nostalgic. He sighed. "I admit, I do miss her though."

Willow didn't know what else to do other then pat his shoulder. She spotted Riley walking away from Buffy and towards them looking depressed. "Hey, Tobias, do you want me to..." She stopped when she looked to see Tobias had disappeared. She looked around but between the people and not knowing which direction he went, she didn't see him. "Well, that was weird."

* * *

><p>Tobias had ditched Willow for a good reason. Aside from not quite being ready to meet Riley, he wanted to get a look around the dorm and find out how they were hiding that elevator he'd sensed earlier. Firing several pulses as he walked down deserted hallways helped him locate it. He didn't have to worry about anyone seeing his silver eyes because they were all back at the main party dancing and having a good time. He eventually stopped in front of a full length mirror. It reached from the floor to the ceiling and was several feet wide. Tobias looked it over.<p>

'Ok, so if I was hiding an elevator behind a mirror, how would I make it so some people can get in but not others?" Tobias thought to himself. He ran through a few ideas but discarded them, either due to impracticality or being too absurd. Getting frustrated, he sent out a pulse focusing on a ten foot radius around him. But he still didn't find a thing. 'How, how, how would you let someone in? It's not like they can see them...through... Oh crap.'

If this was a two way mirror with some sort of camera behind it, then he had just flashed his eyes at them for a split second. Hopefully they wouldn't spot it on tape, otherwise he just gave himself away to a military base.

He didn't want to take chances and quickly moved through the hallways back to the party. Once he was there, he looked around. Buffy was dancing on the dance floor seductively, Riley was making his way to her, and Willow...he saw a glimpse of red hair go through the front door before vanishing. He quickly moved through the crowd and left the building, spotting Willow heading back to her dorm.

"Willow!" He called, jogging to catch up with her.

"Oh, hey." She said quietly. "Didn't see you at the party so I thought you left."

"No, just looking for the bathroom. Hey, are you ok?" In the dark night, she looked depressed again.

"Yeah, just some...bad memories." She hugged herself like that would ward off said memories.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, if it's ok with you, I'm just going to go back to the dorm."

"Sure. I guess I'll see you when I see you then."

"Thanks." Willow smiled slightly before she turned and kept walking.

"Ok," Tobias sighed, running a hand through his hair. So over the course of a day, he'd learned that the military had a secret base hidden on the university, Willow's heartache and helped her deal with it, evere himself to said military, and now had nothing to do with it being the middle of the night. "I need to get a real social life."

With that sentence, Tobias made sure he was alone before vanishing into the night sky, flying back towards Buffy's house.

* * *

><p>"I'm home!" Tobias called as he opened the door to the house. It has been locked and he had no key, but there were remarkably few things that couldn't be opened with air powers. All he had to do was make the lock open from the other side and voila.<p>

"I'm in the kitchen!" Joyce called back as he slipped off his shoes.

"I can tell, something smells good." Tobias sniffed as he walked. "I'm guessing...lasagna."

"And you'd be right." Joyce said as she pulled out the pan from the oven and setting it on the stove. "Did you finish cleaning the gutters today?" She asked while pulling off the oven mitts.

"Took me five minutes and I put the decomposing leaves in your flower bed. And I made sure not to damage said flowers." Tobias responded as he pulled out plates and utensils.

"Thank you, but I still don't know how you do everything so fast."

"I've done things that were much harder than cleaning out gutters Joyce. Not to mention it helps when you blow them out if you know what I mean."

"I still find it amazing that you can do things like that." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, it can be like that from time to time, but you'll get used to it." Just to prove his point, Tobias let go of the dishes he was holding so they could float, along with the utensils and dinner, into the kitchen and be set down, with the placement looking completely normal. "Besides, I wouldn't give them up for anything." He smiled as his eyes faded to green. "Shall we?"

They both sat down and Joyce cut up the food before asking, "So how was your day?"

"As well as could be expected in a town that's set over a mystical portal to Hell." Tobias replied as he ate. The lasagna was homemade, since it was far too good to be frozen and he could taste some spices that he knew companies rarely put into their food. "Buffy is doing fine by the way."

"That's good. Keeping up in her classes?"

"Didn't ask her, but I assume so. I've learned some rather interesting things about her school though. Like the fact at the military has apparently set up shop underneath it."

Joyce choked on the drink of water she had taken. "What?"

"Oh yeah. Set up right under one of the dorms and has a secret elevator down to it. And it must've been there for a while because the place is huge and set up pretty well. I think I might also have an idea on what they're doing here."

"And why is that?"

Tobias sighed and set down his fork. "Past experience says that they're here for one of two reasons. Reason one, the people running the base are a secret faction that broke off from the government for reasons unknown but most likely center around world domination or terrorist methods. I doubt that, so that leaves option two, and that one says that the government is somehow aware of the demon population in Sunnydale and are looking to somehow harness them to make their armies stronger and more effective. That being said, I don't think they're aware of Buffy at all."

"How do you know that?"

"If they were, they would've tried to recruit her already." Tobias said simply. "But I'll keep an eye on them and Buffy, make sure she stays safe. Well, as safe as she can be." He added, mostly to put Joyce at ease.

"Thank you." Joyce sighed. She knew Buffy could look after herself, but it was her duty as a mother to worry about her. And finding out that the military was hidden in her hometown just increased her worry and paranoia.

"It's nothing. So how was work?" They chatted about things of increasing triviality until they had finished the small lasagna and we're putting the dishes in the sink when the phone rang. Joyce went to answer it as Tobias started the dishes.

"Hello? Buffy, hi, what's...uh-huh...yeah, he's here. Ok, give me a moment. Tobias? Buffy is on the phone, she's says she needs to talk to you." Joyce called.

"Coming." Tobias dried off his hands with a towel and took the phone from Joyce as he arrived. "Hello?"

_"Hey, it's me."_

"Really, I couldn't tell." Tobias replied sarcastically.

_"Stuff the sarcasm, I need you to get over to campus right away. Spike is there and he's looking for me. I want to bring the fight to him."_

"Ok, we have any ideas on where he'll look for you?" Tobias asked as he started getting his shoes on.

_"We think he'll look for me on campus buts that's all we really got."_

"Ok, I'll be over there in five." Tobias hung up.

"Something wrong?"

"Vampire is roaming on campus and Buffy wants my help tracking it. She doesn't know where he is, but if he's on campus then that only leaves a few..." He stopped suddenly as he realized there was a handful of places Buffy would be at on a school night. At a party, with her friends, or in her...

"What's wrong?"

"Will." Tobias ran out the door and blasted into the night sky, hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

><p>Willow was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling as the same music she had been listening to earlier was playing from her radioCD player next to her.

The night had been going great. She had been comforting Riley after his disastrous first attempt to flirt with Buffy, saying how he was not asking her to marry him but was just making contact and getting a feel if she was interested or not. Unfortunately the next song that started playing had been one that Oz's band had played and that made her sad all over again. So she had left, having Riley tell Buffy she had, and came back her to be all mopey on her own.

The door knocked and Willow looked at it. "Come in."

The door opened and Spike walked in, holding the door open. Willow instantly scrambled off the bed and stood up, pulse racing. "Spike!"

He smirked and closed the door behind him, slowly strolling towards her while Willow's mind scrambled.

"W-w-what do you want? A-a spell, I can do that." She said weakly. Spike looked at her before looking around the room, walking slowly towards Buffy's side of it. Willow saw her chance and ran for the door. Spike quickly grabbed her and threw her back, causing her to stumble and hit her bed stand as something fell and broke. She breathed in and out shakingly, pushing aside her bangs, as Spike smiled with slight bloodlust.

"I'll give you a choice." He said conversationally. He slowly walked towards Willow while she tried to back farther away from him. "Now I'm going to kill you. No choice on that. But, I can let you stay dead. Or..." He stopped in front of her. "Bring you back." He kept going, face changing to his vampire state. "To be like me." He smiled threateningly.

"I-I'll scream!" Willow threatened half heartedly.

"Bonus." He hissed before moving to bite her neck. Willow did scream until Spike covered her mouth with his left hand. He then turned up the sound on her radio so it drowned out everything else before throwing her on the bed. Willow struggled and clawed at everything she could as the blonde vampire straddled her and tried to grab her flailing arms. He managed to grab her wrists and hold them down as she kept trying to move. He smiled evilly before baring his fangs and bitting her neck. Willow screamed in pain but nobody outside the hall could possibly hear it over the loud music.

**A/N: so, big chapter but I figured I'd go big with this one. Now, I'm going to be shifting things slightly in the next chapter but I'm not giving out spoilers, so you'll just have to be patient and wait. Also, I know this chapter might be a bit ridged but that's my writing style. I start firm and then loosen up as the story progresses and I get more comfortable with my writing. So just stay with me and I promise it will get better. In the meantime, please favorite, follow, and review!**


	4. The Initiative part 2

Willow cautiously watched Spike as he sat hunched over on the end of the bed, the music winding down on her radio as the song ended. Some of her things were on the floor and something glass had broken, but she was more focused on the vampire that had bitten her. Or rather tried to. Before his teeth had penetrated her skin, he had...stopped. She had no clue why but that led to their position of her watching him while he was apparently thinking.

"I don't understand." He finally spoke. "This sorta thing has never happened to me before." He touched his temples, apparently still thinking.

"Maybe you were nervous?" Willow suggested. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to run but if she tried right now, she had a feeling the blonde vampire would stop her or kill her. She just had to wait for an opportunity.

"I felt alright when we started." He took a breath and let it out in a huff. "Let's try again."

With a growl, he sprang towards Willow again who shrieked and cringed as she felt his breath against her neck...

"Ow!" He yelled, falling back and clutching his head. "Ugh." He grunted as he sat in the same place as before, holding his forehead. He took a few deep breaths before trying again, only to get the same result. "Damn it!" He kicked Buffy's bed stand in frustration before pacing in frustration, breathing heavily.

Willow swallowed. "Maybe you're...trying too hard." She suggested, sitting up on the bed. "Doesn't this happen to every vampire?"

"Not to me it doesn't!" He said angrily. "Guh." He grunted as he kept pacing.

Willow's mind ran through a number of reasons Spike might be having trouble biting her. But since she had been depressed before this entire thing has happened, the most likely to her was also the most depressing.

"It's me isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Spike stopped walking to look at her.

"Well, you came looking for Buffy. Then settled. You didn't want to bite me, I just happened to be around."

"Piffle." Spike waved off the explanation and started pacing again.

"I know I'm not the kind of girl vamps like to sink their teeth into. It's always like, "ooh, you're like a sister to me," or, "oh, you're such a good friend."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'd bite you in a heartbeat." The vampire said as he sat down next to the witch.

Absently wondering how they had gone from Spike trying to eat her to him trying to comfort her, Willow said, "Really?"

He shrugged. "Thought about it."

Willow almost smiled for whatever reason. "When?"

Spike chuckled. "Remember last year, you had on that... fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath?"

They looked at each other for a second before laughed softly, actually feeling better. "I never would have guessed. You played the blood-lust kinda cool."

"Yeah, I hate being all obvious," Spike confessed. "All fang-y and "rrrr!" Takes the mystery out."

"But if you could..."

"_If_ I could, yeah." Spike put emphasis on the word.

"Hhmm," Willow nodded. "You know, this doesn't make you any less terrifying." She added helpfully.

Spike sighed and gave her a look. "Don't patronize me."

Before Willow could say she was sorry, Spike grunted and his hands went to his throat before he was suddenly thrown up the ceiling. Willow only had time to jump in shock before he slammed into the ground face first.

"Ow," Spike said as he peeled his face off the ground. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"I-I didn't do that, that wasn't me." Willow stuttered.

"Well if it wasn't you then who..." Spike was cut off as it felt like he got a kick to the face that rolled him over.

The door handle clicked and it opened to let in Tobias, eyes silver and cold as he looked at the downed vampire.

"Hey Spikey." He said conversationally as he closed the door. "How's life treating you?"

"You! I remember you, you headbutted me in that graveyard last week!" Spike pointed at the teen accusingly as he got off the ground. "I'll have you know that hurt."

"Funny. I thought getting slammed into the ceiling and then eating carpet would've hurt more. Will, you ok?" Tobias asked the redhead witch.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Good." Tobias nodded. "So...why hasn't he tried to bite you yet?"

Spike snarled and ran at Tobias, hands reaching for his neck while his face changed...

"Ow!" Spike cried and lost his balance, crashing to the ground as Tobias sidestepped and lay there, clutching his head.

"Oh, that's why." Tobias commented. "Has this been happening every time he tried to attack you?"

"Yeah. Every time he tries to bite, he seems to be in pain."

"Huh." Tobias clicked his tongue. "Well, I fail to see any downside to that. So come on." Tobias snapped his fingers and Spike was pulled to his feet be seemingly nothing. "Lovely to see you again, not really, so out!" Tobias shouted as he opened the door.

Just as he shouted the last word, the lights suddenly went out, plunging the whole building into darkness.

"Well that's fairly impressive. Can you turn the lights back on now?" Spike said after a moment of silence.

"That wasn't me." Tobias said slowly. His silver eyes seemed to glow in the low light. He flicked the light switch a few times. "Powers out. Speaking of out..." Tobias grabbed Spike and threw him into the hall. "Thanks for the visit, Buffy should be here in few minutes to kill you, bye!" He slammed the door in his face and held it shut. "You sure you're ok?" He asked Willow.

"Fine. He didn't hurt me. Not that he didn't try..." She muttered the last bit.

"Shhh." Tobias shushed her as he looked at the door. "I hear something."

Willow strained her ears. She heard confused students murmurs, nightly sounds, shoes on the ground...and several pairs of heavy footfalls coming towards them.

Tobias fired an Air Pulse and got a outline of several people coming towards them. They were all wearing goggles and had machine guns in their arms, and it

"Storm troopers." Tobias cut his powers so his eyes faded to green. "Maybe if we must stay inside they'll go away..." He said to himself with his eyes closed. 'Heh. Yeah right.'

As if to answer his thoughts, the door was kicked out and threw him back as Spike ran back in and closed the door again. "They're here." He said, back to the door.

"No crap, now get out!" Tobias said angrily as he tried to open the door. Spike kicked him away.

"No chance in hell am I letting them take me again."

Tobias was extremely tempted to screw secrecy from the military and just blast Spike into the hallway (or quite possibly grabbing and throwing out him out the window), when the door was kicked open again. He saw quick flashes of light from what he guessed where the lens of the goggles the military guys were wearing. Spike was off balance, and they just to force their way past who knew how many people and then let them deal with the crazy blonde vampire in the few seconds it would take them to do all that.

Those were the best odds he'd heard all day.

"Come on!" Tobias grabbed Willow's arm and pulled them into hall, pushing past and over the soldiers in the hall. He heard several voices, felt rough fabric against his hands and exposed skin, and some cold metal. He then heard Spike snarl and sensed rather than saw him charge. He the tripped on someone's leg and fell, hitting the ground hard. He heard a guns safety being turned off and had a feeling it was pointing at them.

"Hold your fire!" Someone shouted as they they tried to regroup. Tobias flipped over to see a commando pointing his gun at him before Spike ran from the room, grabbing the gun and throwing it aside before grabbing the man holding it and throwing him against the wall. Tobias scrambled to his feet to avoid being trampled as Spike pinned his target and bared his fangs, going for the neck.

"It's on me!" The man shouted in fear before Spike yelled in pain and reared his head back. Two of the soldiers moved quickly, one producing and putting a white cloth bag over the vampires head while the other grabbed his arms and helped the first pull Spike away.

"Oh my head." Spike groaned as plastic cuffs were slipped on his wrists, struggling to break free before the first two soldiers and the one he had pinned before wrestled him to the ground.

"Bag and tag it, we're gone." One ordered as he picked up the weapon on the ground. Tobias saw Willow on the ground next to the wall and moved, helping her up as the group started to leave.

"Sir. Civilians." Another answered as a soldier approached them. "Could've turn."

The leader of the group seemed to debate it for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Leave them."

'Why does voice sound familiar?' Tobias furrowed his brow while slowly inching him and Willow to the right in preparation to run.

"We can't neglect quarantine." Was the response before Spike broke out of his restraints. He yanked off his hood before knocking down the soldier who had spoken, the punched another so he hunched over and threw them down the hall. One tackled him from behind and pushed him against the wall. Spike saw a fire extinguisher in the wall and quickly broke the glass, grabbed it, then slammed one end into the face of the one holding him.

The one in front Tobias and drew a handgun and pointed it at Spike, firing off a shot that hit the fire extinguisher in his hands. The white powder erupted out of the red container and filled the air, obscuring their vision. Tobias didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and pulled Willow around their bodyguard, heading back towards her dorm room.

"Stop them!"

Two soldiers grabbed them both from behind and pulled them back.

"Get the hell off us!" Tobias growled as he and Will struggled.

"They're contained." One of the two holding them said.

'Screw it!' Tobias tapped in his power and his eyes turned silver just as he heard _CLICK_.

"Contain this." Buffy's voice said coldly before something fired and a ball of what seemed like fire bounced around the hallway, off walls and floors before hitting on and going out. It left Tobias and Willow seeing spots, but with the soldiers wearing night vision goggles, the brightness blinded them and hurt them.

"I'm blind!"

"Get the masks off!" Another shouted. Tobias took his chance and headbutted the guy holding him, sounding like he had broken the guys nose in the process. He then punched the one holding Willow and pushed her into her room, closing the door behind her. He then growled and drew all the dust from the fire extinguisher towards him to obscure his features aside from his eyes so he could still see.

Buffy went to town on a soldier, punching him in the chest before pushing him over. One of the soldiers that had been on the ground, disoriented, seemed to regain his senses and got up, grabbing her from behind and throwing her against a wall. He then attempted a high kick that Buffy rolled under before dodging two punches and delivering a right straight to the face. She punched him several times in the chest while Tobias kept the others busy, using sweeping kicks to knock them down or off balance. Spike took the opportunity to run down the hall when everyone was distracted.

"Target is escaping, move!" Two soldiers ran down the hall after him while Buffy's commando blocked a punch and returned with one of his own, causing her to hit the wall across from him. He went and kneed her in the stomach while Tobias let his soldiers run after the first two. At the end of the hall was the sound of breaking glass, but he ignored to grab the soldier hurting Buffy and throwing him down the hall, using the air to help him. The soldier hit the ground hard but pushed himself back up, fists still up and ready to block. Tobias saw familiar eyes but put aside his thoughts till later as he growled deep in his throat, sounding more demon than human while Buffy recovered and stood next to him.

The soldier squinted, apparently still not able to fully see from the flare earlier, and made a decision.

"Abort!" He said loudly and firmly, backing away and retreating with his men in tow. The Slayer and black haired teen relaxed as the last one went around the corner and the lights flickered back on. Tobias flicked his hand and the haze in the air vanished, pushed out the broken window by a breeze.

"So those were the late night storm troopers. Definitely military."

Buffy looked at him but didn't say anything. Her expression did say that words would be had later though.

"Let's go check on Willow, I don't want to be out here right now." Tobias suggested as students started opening doors and cautiously looking out.

"Fine, but we're having a little discussion in a few minutes." Buffy turned and went to the door of her dorm room and opened it, stepping in. Tobias paused for a second to look at the broken window at the end of the hallway. Whatever this organization was, it now knew that he and Buffy were here, if not what they looked like.

'Be careful, whoever you are. Because he big bad Black Wolf has your scent.'

And once he had a scent, he never let it escape.

**A/N: I know, kinda short. But there wasn't much else in the episode and I don't have anything to really detail. For those of you who know the next episode, and more specifically who makes a very special appearance, Tobias will be meeting him. When and where, I'm not telling, but I think I know how their interaction will go. So, until next time, review please, but no pointless flames. Those just piss me off.**

**P.S. I'll be trying to show things from Buffy's perspective rather than just sticking with my OC and some other characters like I did with this episode.**


	5. Pangs Part 1

It was early morning, around 3 a.m. with the sun due up in a few hours. It was normal night sounds in the forest, wind blowing through branches, wildlife moving, nocturnal animals preparing to finish their business before returning to their dens to sleep. One thing that was not normal, however, was the lone teen walking through the woods. He was dressed in a yellow shirt with a blue vest over it, brown khakis and sneakers. He kept walking at a brisk pace, panting slightly and looking at everything that moved or made a sound.

He stopped when heard a branch break and looked around in slight confusion before deciding to ignore it and keep walking. He heard the noise again and stopped, swallowing before he slowly turned around. He jumped and gasped when he saw Buffy standing directly behind him, looking up at him expectantly.

"Looking for me?"

"H-h-holy..." The teen swallowed. "What do you...?"

Buffy backhanded the teen before he could finish. The teen staggered slightly before he looked at the blonde, looking at her with fangs and yellow eyes. He snarled lowly.

"Look whose home." Buffy lowered her fist.

"Slayer." He hissed before Buffy tried to punch him in the gut. He blocked it and she followed with a swing to the face. He recovered quickly and Buffy ducked under his right straight. "Why don't you just go back where you came from, things were great until you came!" He growled.

Buffy spun and kicked him to ground but he quickly got back up. He tried to swing his forearm into her stomach but she grabbed it and used it to flip him onto his back.

Before she could finish him off, a wooden blur flew from the bushes and hit him directly in the heart, dusting him. The stake flew back into them as Tobias stepped out, catching it in his right hand.

"And they say one person can't make a difference." He commented as he pocketed his wooden stick.

"That was mine! You've already killed half the vampires we found tonight!"

"Now I've killed a bit more than half. Your point?"

"Ugh." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Two weeks since that last talk and you still don't listen."

After the storm trooper/Spike incident, Buffy had grilled Willow and Tobias for details and after getting them all, explained, in a "very patient" tone of voice, that when you go after a vampire like Spike, you called her or somebody of the Scooby gang first, not last. Tobias had agreed to play by her rules, but that apparently only applied to bigger than normal threats. Things like patrolling, they'd watch each others backs but he still killed vampires so easily it made her feel slightly inadequate. And very, very annoyed.

"Suns coming up in a few hours. You want to keep patrolling or head back?" Tobias asked.

Buffy opened her mouth to respond before she stopped. She had an odd feeling. She didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, and didn't "feel" anything from her Slayer senses that screamed demons or vampires, but...she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched.

"Buffy? Buffy? Earth to Buffy, you still there?" Tobias snapped his fingers a few times to get her attention. She blinked and shook her head.

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry, just...got distracted. Are you sure we're alone?"

"I sent out a Pulse before I staked that guy. He didn't have any friends close by."

"Ok," Buffy nodded, but she still wasn't convinced. Shaking off her paranoia for the time being, she said, "Let's head back. Vampires will be heading back to their hiding places anyways and I think we got all the new ones."

"Sounds good." Tobias and Buffy walked away, neither one noticing they were being watched from the bushes. Hiding in them was a tall man, looking around his late thirties, with black hair, light brown eyes, and handsome features. His clothes were all black, with boots and open trench coat over his shoulders. He watched Buffy and Tobias go with a sad, nostalgic look in his eyes.

This man was Buffy's ex-boyfriend, Angel. And he had come back to Sunnydale.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

The next morning, Buffy, Willow, and Tobias were accompanying Anya to see the groundbreaking of a new cultural center for the University of California, Sunnydale. Buffy and Willow were there because it had something to do with their school, and Willow was interested in anything related to learning, and Anya was there because one of the workers was Xander, so she was naturally there. Tobias...sadly, he still has no social life and was bored. This was simply something to do.

The dean of the school was currently making a speech.

"Of all the duties as a dean, one of the most pleasant is to see a college realize a dream. Ladies, gentlemen, students, I present to you Professor Gerhardt of the anthropology department."

Everyone clapped as the dean yielded the stand to a brown haired woman in a tan suit. She smiled before speaking clearly into the microphone.

"When I first realized that we were outgrowing our current cultural center, I was concerned. Then I realized that it was like seeing one's child grow up, and move on to better things. In this case, a spacious new facility built on this sight."

"Look at him." Anya speaking up tuned out the speech the professor was giving. "Have you ever seen anything so masculine?"

"Dean Guerrero or his wife?" Buffy asked.

Willow giggled. "I think she means..." She nodded at Xander, standing off to one side with a shovel and hard hat.

"Oh. Very manly." Buffy nodded. "Not at all village people."

"So much sexier than the outfit of his last job."

"Oh I miss the free hot dogs on sticks." Willow said.

"Do I want to know what his last job was?" Tobias asked rhetorically.

"I'm imagining having sex with him, right now." Anya signed, never taking her eyes off her boyfriend as she said that.

"_And_ that was too much information even for me." Tobias said out loud but was ignored as they quieted down to listen to the anthropology department professor kept up her speech.

"And that's why it's appropriate that the ground-breaking for the UC Sunnydale Cultural Partnership Center is taking place so soon before Thanksgiving. Because that's what the Melting Pot are about, contributions from all cultures making our culture stronger."

"What a load of horse hoey." Willow sounded outraged while everyone else clapped.

"You don't like Thanksgiving Will?" Tobias asked.

"No! Thanksgiving i-isn't about the blending of two cultures, it's about one culture wiping out another, a-and then they make animated specials about the part where...w-with the maze and the big, big belt buckles, they don't show you the next scene where, where all the bison die and and then Swando takes a musket ball in the stomach."

Buffy slowly nodded. "Ok, now for some of that, you were channeling your mother."

"And said an impressive amount in one breath, no less." Tobias added while looking faintly amused.

Willow looked a bit sheepish as she shrugged. "Yeah kinda. I mean, that's why she doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving or Columbus Day. You know, destruction of the indigenous people, but... I know it sounds a little over the top but she's...she's right."

"Ehh. Guess I never really thought about it that way. With mom out of town I'm not really getting a Thanksgiving this year. Might be just as well."

"I've never really cared either way," Tobias said. "I mean, I get that thanksgiving is a time to be with family and be thankfully, but if my family ever gets together, you can bet that sooner or later, something _will_ explode or be thrown."

Anya actually seemed to be listening because she stopped looking at Xander to look back at them. "Well I think that's shame. I love a ritual sacrifice."

"Not really one of those." Buffy said slowly.

"To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat in animal. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie." She explained before looking back at the hunk of hotness that was apparently Xander.

Tobias leaned in to Willow and Buffy. "She's got a bright way of looking at things, doesn't she?"

"...and thus, a symbolic beginning." Professor Gerhardt finished. She stepped away from the podium and Dean Guerrero got up from his seat, handing her a shovel.

"What's she doing? Xander said he was going to dig. I want to see Xander dig." Anya said.

"That part is just ceremonial." Willow told her.

"Well it bites." Professor Gerhardt pushed the shovel blade into the ground before lifting a layer of topsoil and dropping it onto the ground next to her, causing everyone to clap. "She's not rippling at all."

The rest of the staff got up and shook hands with the professor to congratulate her while the students got off the metal bleachers that had been set up and the workmen started moving machinery into place. Xander and his small crew started digging with the shovels they had.

"Oh, look, there he goes." Buffy pointed out. Anya instantly relaxed and sighed happily.

"Look at him."

"Nice." Tobias said just to be polite.

"Very...diggy." Willow threw in her own unique comment.

"Soon he'll be sweating. I'm imagining having sex with him again."

"Imaginary Xander is quite the machine." Buffy joked.

"Hhmm." They watched for a few seconds before there was a crack of wood and the ground underneath Xander gave out, swallowing him into the earth. They all jumped and everyone moved forwards, wanting to cross the Orange plastic fence that had been set up around the sight.

"He's ok." Tobias reported, eyes changing silver in the amount of time it took to launch a Pulse and for workers to move towards the hole. "He's gone about ten feet under, but...that's very strange."

"What? What's?" Anya asked urgently.

"Unless I'm reading this wrong, and I'm not, he's in some sort of underground chamber." Tobias reported.

Again, it looked like trouble had found them.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

After the construction crew had pulled Xander from the chamber, Professor Gerhardt and the rest of the staff from the anthropology department had looked at the chamber from above, thrilled to have found...whatever it was. Buffy didn't know, since she had been worried about her friend and making sure Xander was ok. After that, she and Willow had gone to class and were now in their dorm room while she looked out the window at the night landscape. That feeling from the graveyard was back and she didn't like it. For some reason, she also felt...sad.

"While they were pulling Xander out, I uh heard a couple of the anthro talking about it," Willow said as she sat down on her bed, emptying the pockets of some of her clothes in preparation to put them into the laundry hamper. "Man, were they excited. Sealed Sunnydale mission, which everyone thought was lost."

"Uh-huh." Buffy replied absently.

"Is there something out there?" Willow asked, concerned.

Buffy blinked and stepped away from the window. "Hhmm? Oh, no. I'm sorry, a lost mission?" She asked, sitting down on her own bed. "I mean, a hair brush I understand, which by the way I will find that and get that back to you, but, how do you lose a mission?"

"Huge earthquake in 1812. Everyone just assumed the mission was leveled, but instead they built right over it. I-it's like what happened with that church in the 30's that The Master was in." Willow explained, referring to the first big villain they had fought and stopped together.

"Doesn't it make you wonder what else is there? Right under our feet."

"Mostly, I've just found sewers full of demons." Buffy said.

"Oh, right." Willow said, slightly embarrassed as she dumped her clothes into the hamper. She checked their small fridge for something to eat and closed it when she found nothing worthy, while the open door let them hear the people outside. They sounded excited for Thanksgiving and that midterms were over. Willow took a quick look before closing the door. "Man its crazy out there."

"Hhmm, post midterm frenzy."

"And the holiday. Everyone's going home." Willow said as she and Buffy both lied down on their beds. "Looks like a lot of lucky moms are going to be getting baskets of dirty laundry."

Buffy sighed. "It's so not fair." She said childishly. "I mean, they all get a family holiday just because they can go home to their families."

"Hhmm. It's a turvy topsy world."

Buffy pushed herself up off the bed, a determined spark in her eye. "You know what? I should have my own Thanksgiving. I can't cook the meal just like my mom does, have all you guys over, it'll be great."

"Buffy," Willow sat up on her own bed. "You agreed with me earlier about Thanksgiving, it's a sham. It's all about death."

Buffy looked slightly guilty. "It is a sham, but...it's a sham with yams. It's a yam-sham."

Willow gave her a look. "You're not going to jokey rhyme your way out of this one."

"I know," Buffy fidgeted with her fingers, looking and sounding like a child. "But I want it. It's like Professor Walsh was saying, about sense memory. I smell a roasting turkey and suddenly I'm eight years old. I liked having that to look forward to." She looked out the window with a melancholy look. "Everything's different now."

Willow had to choose between which was stronger, her beliefs or letting Buffy have this so she could be happier. "Well...I suppose there could be slight yams." She said, looking at the ceiling before looking at Buffy's surprised and hopeful face. "I mean...we could definitely use a little comfort food."

"I bet Giles doesn't have any plans. And, Xander always tries to avoid all of his family gatherings." Buffy said thoughtfully, sitting down next to the red haired witch.

"Oh, we can not invite Anya." Willow said brightly.

"Eehh, I don't know. She and Xander seemed pretty tight lately."

Willow pouted slightly and said under her breath, "Grumble grumble."

Buffy smiled. "Look, pilgrims aside, isn't that the whole point of Thanksgiving? Everybody has a place to go?"

"I guess." Willow said. "Can we invite Tobias? I mean, he doesn't have any plans that I know of, plus maybe this could be a-a-a welcome to the gang kinda meal."

"Well," Buffy thought about it. She didn't think that the black haired air manipulator had any plans, plus she didn't like the thought of him being in her house alone. Whether it was because he was alone period or because he was alone in her house, she didn't know, she just didn't like the thought. Plus, he'd at least proven he wasn't evil over the past few weeks, and he'd been a pretty good guy once she had gotten to know him, and he got along great with everyone. And besides, with the look Willow was giving her, she just couldn't say no. "Ok. We'll give him a call and ask if he wants to join."

"Oh goodie." Willow clapped her hands happily.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

Speaking of Tobias, he was sitting on the couch with the TV on, showing some thanksgiving special but the thing that was commanding his attention was his sketchbook. With Buffy's mom out of town, he was left alone in the house. He didn't really care either. Joyce was a good person to be around, but he was used to being alone with nothing but him and his thoughts. Or rather, him, his thoughts, and his sketchbook. He'd already filled up a third of the pages with drawings that he'd drawn from memory and all of them had turned out good. Nothing that was worthy of framing, but better than the average doodler. As for the holidays, he planned on spending them alone while making himself a small meal and keeping the house in order until the rightful owner returned.

The background noise of the TV was interrupted as the phone rang. Tobias didn't look up but snag the phone with his powers, making it look like nothing was moving it, and answering it while he kept drawing.

"Summers residence, how can I help you?"

_"Hey, it's me."_

"Hey, Buffy," Tobias stopped drawing and grabbed the phone with his real hand. "What's up?"

"_Not much. Um, listen, do you have plans for the holidays?"_

Tobias had a feeling he knew where she was going with this, but he decided to mess with the Slayer.

"Um, Buffy, not that I'm not flattered, but I already have a girlfriend."

_"What? No! I wasn't asking you out!"_

"Oh. Well then, please proceed." Tobias made sure she could hear the humor in his voice and he thought he heard a laugh in the background on her side.

Buffy sighed, irritated. Over the phone, it sounded like a rush of static. _"I was _going _to ask you if you wanted to join me and the others at Giles house on Thanksgiving, but if you're going to be a pain about, I might not invite you._"

"Yeah, don't think you'll go through with that. Because I'm willing to bet Willow is sitting right next to you giving you that look that makes people bend to her will. Speaking of which, tell her I say hi."

A few seconds of silence later, Buffy said flatly, "_She says hello back, now do you want to join us or not?"_

"Sorry," Tobias chuckled. "Uh, sure. I don't have any plans anyways, so I'd be happy to join you."

"_Ok then. I'll see you at Giles tomorrow then? I'm going shopping to pick up groceries after class for the dinner."_

"We'll see, I might be doing some patrolling tomorrow night for a few hours. But I'll try and get there to help out."

_"Great. See you then."_

"K, bye." Tobias hung up and looked the phone for a few seconds. "My first holiday in Sunnydale. Wonder how long it'll take for the Hellmouth to screw it up."

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

The next day Tobias went about his normal business. Waking up around 6, showering, eating, doing his day to day chores and making sure everything was in order. Out of curiosity he turned on the TV and turned it to the local news to see if there was anything that was of a pressing nature.

_"...and in a depressing nature, the body of professor Samantha Gerhardt, head of the Anthropology Department at UC Sunnydale, was found earlier this morning on campus. Police are not releasing any official statements, but according to our sources, the woman was found with her throat slit and ear cut off. We'll keep you up to date on this tragic event."_

"Well that can't be good." Tobias commented to himself. Day after a hidden and forgotten chamber was found and the person who had started the project that had uncovered it ended up dead. They were going to need to check that crime scene and grabbed the phone, dialing the number for the dorm. After a few rings, the other end picked up and he heard a sleepy, "_Hello?"_ That sounded like Willow.

"Hey, it's me. Did I wake you up?"

"_Kinda. Why are you calling so early Tobias?"_

"Sorry, but this important. I'm looking at the news right now, and Professor Gerhardt is dead."

_"What?"_ She sounded more awake now. _"But we just saw her yesterday, what happened?"_

"According to the news report, she had her throat slit and she was found on campus. I'm going to see what else I can learn, but we're going to need to take a look at that crime scene. Tonight."

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

The day passed by in a brisk fashion until Buffy, Tobias, and Willow were creeping into the building and we're looking around the crime scene with flash lights. Xander was absent, apparently having come down with flu or some illness and was being looked after by Anya.

"I'll never get used to this," Buffy said as she looked around the room. It looked like a Native American exhibit, with some display cases and a desk that was cluttered with papers. "One day she's at the friendship ceremony, the next she's on the news."

"People die every day Buffy. It's just a fact." Tobias told her. "According to that corners report I looked at, it said she had her throat slit by a poorly sharpened blade, and she was missing an ear."

"Yeah, I think we might be dealing with a witch." Willow said as she shifted through the papers on the desk. "There are some great spells that work much better with an ear in the mix."

"That's one fun little hobby you got there Will." Buffy said, a little nauseated as she and Tobias looked around the room.

"Or, or maybe an ear harvesting demon, that, like, it's building another demon completely out of ears. Or...oh, thought." She stepped away from the desk, not finding anything useful. "W-we're just assuming some else cut off the ear. What if it was self-inflicted? Like, Van Gogh?"

Tobias aimed his flashlight at Willow. "My stepfather would love to meet you. He just shoots off ideas like that when he's thinking or trying to figure something out."

"Sorry." Willow said.

"I didn't say here was anything wrong with it. By all means, talk away."

"So, she brutally stabbed herself, dumped her body and then cut off her own ear?" Buffy asked.

"No, she cut off her ear, then killed herself, then dumped the body-" Willow stopped talking when she realized how twisted her logic had become and how her friends were looking at her. "I'm really off my game, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Buffy nodded before noticing something in an open display case. "Wait. Something's missing from this case." The other two looked in on either side of Buffy while she read the place card. "Early 1800's Chumash knife. There's a picture."

"What does it look like?" Willow asked. Buffy picked up the card and showed it to them. On it was a rough sketch of a knife with wavy edges on the blade and a wide, oval handle.

"I think we have our murder weapon." Tobias stated the obvious.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

"It was pretty darn scary. It was more like a riot then a Ralph's. I thought I was going to have to use Slayer moves on this one woman who was _completely _hoarding the pumpkin pie filling." Buffy explained to Giles later that night as they unpacked the groceries that the blonde had gotten at the store in his kitchen.

"And at some point you are going to tell me about the murder?" The British man asked impatiently as they sorted and put away the food.

"Oh, right. Uh, the knife was some sort of Indian artifact. Chumash, I think. That's all we got."

"Oh, Chumash Indians? They were indigenous to this whole area, that's interesting." Giles said thoughtfully as he took out more food from the paper bags. "Then of course, the murder weapon may have just been a convenient choice."

"Nun-hu. There was a big old scissors lying right there, that knife was picked for a reason, do you even own a turkey pan?" Buffy asked as she looked through Giles cookware.

"Tell me again why we aren't doing this at your house." Giles sighed, taking off his glasses.

"Giles, if you would like to get by in American society, you are going to have to follow our traditions. You're the patriarch, you have to host the festivities or it's all meaningless!" She said firmly.

"And this is in no way an elaborate scheme to stick me with the clean up?" He asked shortly, giving her a knowing look.

"How about that ceremonial knife, huh?" Buffy instantly changed the subject and resumed unpacking the bags of food. "Pretty juicy piece of clue, don't you think?"

"All right, I'll look into the uh, Chumash connection, see if there's any significance to the ear removal." Giles said, letting Buffy escape this time.

"Thank you." Buffy said sweetly as she started leaving. She stopped in her tracks when she got that feeling again.

"You all right?" Giles asked.

"Uh, yeah." Buffy shook it off, but she was starting to get concerned. This feeling kept coming and going with no apparent cause, and she didn't like not knowing. Not knowing lead to being surprised and attacked in her book. "I still need to pick up a few things, so I'll check in, and keep your hands off the food." She said, pointing at her Watcher firmly.

"Oh, I'll try and restrain myself from eating uncooked potatoes and cranberries." Giles said sarcastically as Buffy walked towards the door. She grabbed her coat from the hook and looked back at Giles before opening the door and leaving.

Giles watched the door for a second before pocketing his hands. "So, what do you think?"

There were footsteps in the hall behind him as Angel walked past. "She sounds good." He said quietly as he stopped in the middle of the living. "Sounds kinda intense about this Thanksgiving thing."

"I think perhaps she a little lonely, but, uh, I meant about the murder." Giles crossed her arms and leaned against the wall while he apprised the old vampire.

"Whatever killed the woman in the museum, that's probably the danger." Angel told him. He hadn't come back to Sunnydale just to spy on Buffy. In LA he had run into two people, Cordelia Chase, a former high school classmate of Buffy's who had gone to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, and a half demon named Doyle. They'd gotten together, sort of, and founded an investigation company called Angel Investigation (the name being Cordelia's idea) to help people with supernatural problems or who needed help with no place left to turn.

Angel did the detective work and fighting, Cordelia did paperwork and promotion of their company, and Doyle...well Doyle was different. He would get visions, flashes of the future that were sent to him by the higher powers, known only as The Powers That Be. They were scattered and fragmented, plus they gave Doyle one hell of a headache when they hit, but it was how they found most of their clients. Recently, he'd had a vision regarding Buffy in danger, so Angel had left as soon as he possibly could to help her. Without her knowing he was there, so as to not cause her any pain for their past interactions.

Giles he had come to so he would know what Buffy was getting into, without revealing himself and having Giles promise to not do that himself.

"Yeah well, this danger. Y-your friend has some ominous vision about Buffy, it's all terribly vague. While there are other things happening on this campus."

"Well, you know maybe I'm wrong, but I got to try something. I can't just keep watching."

Giles looked at Angel. "You know, I'm glad that you're watching out for her, but I feel that I should remind you that she's not helpless and it's not your job to keep her safe."

"It's not yours anymore either." Angel shot back. "Are you going to walk away?" The former librarian looked away from Angel's head on challenge.

"All right. But I feel we should tell her, I don't like this...secret."

"No, no, no if she knew I was here, it'd...look it would distract her, it would get her hurt, I..." He breathed out in frustration. "I don't wanna...to get in the way."

Giles shook his head as he sat down on his couch, Between Buffy and Angel, it was hard to tell who was more stubborn.

"Um, I'm assuming that there is some connection to the old mission, something is...angry, about being disturbed." Giles theorized as he took of his glasses and leaned forward in thought.

"Or maybe it was trapped there and now it's released." Angel said, pacing slightly.

"Something that has a fondness for ancient weapons."

"You know Father Gabriel? He knows this place pretty well, family dates back to mission times, he might be able to fill in some blanks."

"Ok, well, I-I'll see about contacting him." Giles said.

Angel nodded, sighing. It was killing him that he couldn't talk to Buffy, but it was for the best. But he still had questions. "Hey, I saw some...kid with her on patrol a few nights ago, who is he?"

"Hhmm?" Giles was pulled from his thoughts. "Oh, oh, um, that's Tobias. A...new arrival in Sunnydale, showed up about three weeks ago."

"And he's patrolling with her?"

"W-well, Tobias has shown himself to be remarkably resourceful when it comes to dealing with vampires and he seems trustworthy. We don't know much about his life before he came here, but...but he's proven to be good ally for the most part."

"What is he?" Angel asked. "I mean, I saw him kill a vampire a few nights ago when he was with Buffy but he used some...odd power to send a stake through the guys heart and then bring it back?"

"Oh, yes. Um, I'm afraid I don't know. I know some things, what he's told us anyways. He is apparently half human, but the other is, in his words, unique."

"Demon?"

"No. I've exhausted the resources I have and can't find any mention of a demon or demon half breed that can do what he does while still looking as human as he does. Not to mention that he can use his...unusual abilities to a startling level of control and variety."

"Is he dangerous?" Angel asked seriously.

"Well, it depends. Normally he's friendly, sociable, and very insightful in many things, as well as remarkably powerful and capable."

"How powerful are we talking here?"

"He's been able to best Buffy in hand to hand combat, according to her, and break through a moderate binding spell by sheer power alone despite the fact that we had sealed them. But he's only used his power when patrolling or when he has no other choice."

Angel paced while thinking. He had over two hundred years of experience in dealing with demons and magic, but he didn't recall anything like what Giles was describing. There were powerful demons that could do what Giles described, but none of them could look that human without the use of a glamor spell to change their appearance, and he had not seen any telltale signs of that. Beating Buffy in hand to hand combat was another thing entirely, since she was naturally stronger and faster than a normal human. She had to be.

"Ok, do you have any information on him? Where he comes from, parents, relatives, anything?"

"I'm afraid not. He's been rather tight lipped about his life before arriving here rather suddenly."

Angel sighed. "Ok, I'll take look into him when I get back, see if he's been anywhere before coming here."

As he finished that sentence, the door knocked. Giles and Angel looked at each other, the former getting off the couch while the latter put himself halfway between the door and the hallway, ready to fight or hide.

"Who is it?" Giles called.

"Just me Giles." Tobias voice called back. Giles looked at Angel who nodded before going down the hall to hide in the backroom again. Giles opened the door.

"Tobias, how can I help you?" Giles asked as the stepped inside. "I thought you were out on patrol?"

"I'm taking a quick break. I have a question I really, really need an answer to." Tobias said seriously.

"Of course, what do you need?"

"Ok," Tobias clapped his hands together. "My question is this...why is there a vampire currently hiding in your back room?"

Giles started at Tobias and his expression could only be described as dumbstruck. Tobias nodded like he had expected this and raised his voice. "You can come out now." He looked expectantly at the hall. Silence for a few seconds, then Angel silently came out. With his eyes and black clothes, he really looked like a fallen angel.

"How'd you know I was here?"

Tobias smirked and changed his eyes to silver. "I got a lot of tricks. One is telling where people are and if they have a heartbeat. Now, since you are in this apartment and Giles has not been eaten, plus the fact that you were watching me and Buffy in that graveyard a few nights ago, I'm going to say...you must be Angel."

"Interesting, because I seem to remember you telling Buffy that nobody else was there."

"I said that vampire didn't have any friends, I didn't say we were alone. Buffy merely assumed I meant that."

Angel groaned. "Great, another lawyer. I thought I left those back in LA."

"Oh, please don't call me that, I will never lower myself to being on the same level as a lawyer. I still have dignity and a modicum of empathy for people in general." Tobias said. "But, enough about me, how about you? What brought you back to the little piece of demon infested Hell that is Sunnydale?"

Angel looked at Giles who just looked lost and shrugged. "I'm here to keep an eye on Buffy."

"And again I ask, why?"

"Doesn't matter." Angel said shortly before moving with the intent to walk past Tobias. Until he felt like he had ran into a wall. "What the?" He touched it to feel nothing but...solid air.

"That walls not coming down until I get an answer. Doesn't have to be everything, but until I know the general details, you are staying right there."

Angel glared silently at Tobias who looked back boredly. He debated about trying to force his way through, but if what Giles had said was true, it would take too long.

"A friend of mine had a vision about Buffy. I'm here to make sure she stays safe."

"Considering she's the Slayer and we live on a Hellmouth, I think that's kinda impossible."

"Well it's why I'm here. Happy?"

Tobias shrugged. "Not really, but whatever. One more thing before I let you go." Angel rolled his eyes. "Buffy and I have gotten to be decent friends. With that being said, if you hurt her or get her hurt, I will make you regret it."

"Same here." Angel growled lowly. That growl was normally enough to make grown men back up in fear, demons uneasy, and those that knew who he was and what he had done to go running.

"Hhmm." Tobias grunted, not impressed before his eyes faded back. "She was headed downtown to pick up some things with Willow I think."

"Thanks." Angel said after a few seconds of silence before heading towards the door. Giles looked like he was about to say something but Tobias got his attention and silently shook his head. they both watched as he departed into the night.

"Nice guy." Tobias broke the pause. "A bit dark and broody, but otherwise…"

"Tobias, it's imperative that…"

"I know, Buffy be kept safe, don't tell her or anyone that he's here, got it. Trust me, I know the value of keeping secrets. And I'll be sure to keep an eye on him in case he turns evil somehow." Tobias told the former librarian. "Oh, and I agree with what Buffy said. Stay away from the food."

Giles blinked. "Wait. How did you…" Tobias just gave him a knowing smile and walked out the door, leaving him alone. "Does everyone just listen in whenever they fancy?"

**A/N: And it's done. Well, not done done, but the first part of this episode is done. Now, for those of you who think Angrl was a bit too easily accepting of Tobias, keep in mind that he doesn't needlessly pick fights with people, especially those whom he has very little information on. The information he got from Giles isn't enough to give him a full idea of what Tobias is or what he's full capabilities are.**

**Now, I'm going to be showing a bit more of Tobias's background in the next chapter. But please give me some feedback so I can know what you like, dislike, just so I know what you'd like me to detail. So as normal, favorite, follow, and review please.**


	6. Pangs Part 2

"But you have whipped cream, I saw it in Giles fridge." Willow said as she and Buffy turned the corner as they kept walking and talking.

"Yeah, but that's whipped cream in a canister. It's only right if you whip it yourself."

"Hey, and then later we can churn our own butter and make sweaters out of sheep." Willow said cheerfully.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Ok, it's the _last_ thing, I promise. Besides, I got that appointment with that priest Giles called about. He said he might have some information."

"Buffy? Hey, Buffy!" The girls stopped in front of an open place coffee shop as Riley ran from across the street to stop in front of them. The day after the commandos and Spike had shown themselves, he had approached Buffy again. It had been awkward, since he still had trouble talking to her, but the result had made it so they were slowly building a relationship.

"Riley. Where did you come from? I didn't see you at all." Buffy asked as she looked back the way he had come.

"Oh, just across the street." Riley said, gesturing casually. He then looked embarrassed as he added, "and a couple of blocks down. Hey Willow."

"Hey. " everyone was smiling at the joke before Buffy and Riley looked at Willow. Getting the hint, the redhead said, "Well, I'm just gonna let you two...look, they're selling coffee in the, coffee shop. Yum." And with that poorly made excuse, she went in to leave the two possible love birds alone. On her way to the counter she accidentally bumped into someone and was about to apologize when she saw it was Angel.

He saw her eyes widen and quickly put a hand over her mouth while pulling her out of sight from Buffy and Riley while Willow angrily said around his hand, "Evil, you're evil..." and then some unintelligible words since her voice was muffled.

"I'm not evil," Angel responded. "I'm here to help Buffy." He saw her confusion and slowly took his hand off her mouth.

"What's going on?"

"A friend had a vision, Buffy's in danger." Angel told her, getting to the point.

"So tell her, help her."

"If she sees me, it'll be worse." Angel took a quick glance at her from where they were.

Willow rolled her eyes. "See, I don't get that. All this 'leaving for her own good' garbage, because that's what it is. Y-you can't just give up because there's obstacles. You know, what kinda..."

"Willow." Angel cut her off.

"Sorry, my stuff." She apologized.

"Listen, you know how I feel about her. If there was any way..."

"Yeah, I know." Willow felt guilty for bringing the 'obstacles' bit. She knew Angel loved Buffy and she had loved him. Still did, but after he had gone evil and done all those horrible things before coming back...well it kinda made sense on why he'd left, even if she didn't like it.

"It's just...everything different now." Angel sighed, putting his hands in his pocket seemingly out of reflex as he glanced at Buffy again.

"Hey, is Cordelia really working for you? I mean, cause that's gotta be a...special experience." Willow said. "Oh all the people you coulda hired..."

"Willow." Angel interrupted her little tangent again. "I'm here to protect Buffy. I don't have a whole lot of time for personal stuff."

"R-right, w-well, how can I help?"

"Well, I-if you can just tell me..." Angel paused before looking again at Buffy and truly with slight jealousy. "Who's that guy?"

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"It'll be just like it was when I was a kid." Buffy said with a smile. "Only, without me building a fort out of my mashed potatoes."

"Sounds like fun." Riley said.

"It will be." Buffy debated what she was about to do, but decided to go through with it. "Um, you know, if you don't already have plans, you should come. I'm a great cook. In, theory. I've eaten a lot."

She didn't fully like like Riley yet, but she did find him handsome. And fun, and nice, and just a bit peculiar but she could work with that. When had she ever had anything be normal? And she knew she was kinda asking him over to dinner, but it just felt right.

"That sounds so great," Riley said regretfully. "But I out of here tonight. I caught a last minute flight back to Iowa."

"Iowa." Buffy repeated. "That's, one of the ones in the middle right?"

Riley laughed. "My folks are there. We always do Thanksgiving at my grandparents house. Little farm outside Hulsey."

"Sounds nice."

"It is." Riley said, looking nostalgic as he talked. "After dinner, we all go for a walk down by the river with the dogs. There's trees and..." He stopped for a second and sighed. "And I know what you're thinking. It sounds like I grew up in a Grant Wood painting."

"Exactly." Buffy said, unashamed. "If I knew who that was."

"Just a guy who painted stuff that looked like what I grew up in."

Buffy smiled. She really liked Riley. It was still unclear what kind of like it was, if it was like as a friend like or the deeper like like, but he was nice, understanding, wasn't afraid to speak his mind. It was too bad he couldn't join them, but it sounded like he'd have a nice normal holiday with his family, which she hadn't had since she was fifteen. "Well, have fun at the homestead."

"Always do. What's the line? 'Home is the place that, when you have to go there...'"

"'They have to take you in.'" Buffy finished. They talked for a few more minutes before the TA had to leave, apparently having a few things to settle before he left. Willow came out of the coffee shop after he left and the two finished the rest of their shopping in time for Buffy to head to the appointment Giles had set up for her with Father Gabriel.

Buffy arrived at the church around the appointed time. It was an older church, made of white stone with a roof made of wood and a bell tower, with the doors open. Buffy let herself in and walked a bit, coming into the main area. Rows of pews were lined up and facing the altar, behind which were paintings and carvings of The Lord. Buffy's heels clicked against the stone floor as she walked down the rows, looking around.

"Father Gabriel?" She called quietly, but she didn't get any response. Stymied and wondering where everyone was, she went through another door, this one leading outside to a courtyard. Green grass and small trees enclosed by open air hallways. Buffy let the door lose behind her as she stepped out. "Father? Are you out here?" She looked down the halls to her right and her blood ran cold.

A man in priest robes was hung with a noose around his neck, limp and clearly dead as his ear was cut off by a darker skinned man that stood next to him, using a knife in his right hand. His arms were bare safe for a band around his biceps and he wore a brown vest and pants. For shoes, he wore simple flats and he had a head band that kept his black, shoulder length hair in place.

Buffy acted in an instant and spirited down the hall as the man apparently looked over his work before moving towards the arm closest to him. Buffy quickly kicked him, grabbing his knife hand and throwing him away from the body. He rolled and stopped in a crouch, knife ready as sharp eyes locked into her.

"You can't stop me." He stated loudly and firmly as Buffy slid into her fighting stance.

"You're very wrong about that."

With a cry, the man charged and slashed overhead with his knife, forcing Buffy to sidestep to the left and jump back as he tried to backhand cut her and punch. She kneed his exposed chest and grabbed his left arm, throwing him onto the grassy area. He quickly got up and pressed an attack with several slashes and cuts that Buffy weaved around. She rolled to the right into the courtyard as his missed attack destroyed a small statue. He kicked her so she ended up on her back and stabbed down, inches from Buffy's throat as she caught his wrist and forced it away.

"I am vengeance," he snarled. "I am my peoples cry. They call for Hus, for the avenging spirit, to carve out justice."

Before Buffy could come up with a witty retort, they both heard, "Good luck with that." Before Hus was kicked off her and hit the ground hard on his back. Buffy scrambled to her feet and glared at her savior.

"Eyes on the angry spirit Buffy." Tobias told her without taking his own off Hus as he got to his feet.

"Do you stalk me in your spare time or something?" She asked angrily.

"No, I was on patrol when I felt something off here. Turns out that was him."

Hus growled and charged at them both. Tobias flicked his hand Hus was knocked aside into a tree. A few more hand gestures and use of his powers resulted in the spirit being pinned against a tree with his arms held out on either side and his knife floating next to his throat. Hus struggled against his bonds before fixing a hateful glare on them as they approached.

"You slaughtered my people, now you kill their spirit. This must be a great day for you." He spat out. Buffy felt a hint of unease enter her normal unyielding determination and ruthlessness. Hus may have killed the professor, but...they had wiped out the indigenous people of this area, his people. He was just trying to get revenge for them, and it was righteous revenge even, when she looked at it from his point of view. Wouldn't she do the same thing if her friends, her family, her people had been killed?

Tobias examined the spirit with unreadable eyes before snapping his fingers. Hus's arms were freed and he was thrown to the side, rolling into a crouch as his knife was buried blade first into the ground in front of him. Eyeing them both, he grabbed it and stood to full height as his body melted into a flock of crows, cawing as they flapped into the night.

The next day, Tobias poured over the books Giles had pointed out to him while he and Buffy were prepping the food for Thanksgiving dinner later tonight. After running into the vengeance spirit last night, he'd grabbed every book he could find on spirits or spiritual related subjects from the bookcase and started reading, wanting to learn more about them and how their world interacted with the physical world.

"Well, according to these books, we're definitely dealing with an Native American spirit. It's apparently common for them to change to animal form."

"Yeah, well its uncommon to just let the bad guy go. I mean, why did you let him go?" Buffy asked from the kitchen as she closed the oven, which had the turkey cooking inside."

"Because I didn't know what to do." Tobias looked over his shoulder to look at Buffy. "Listen, I get that this is a vengeance spirit, but it's also the vengeance spirit of people whom we've nearly wiped out. So, I'm trying to find a way that we can at least quite it or maybe imprison it. I don't want to destroy something that's one of the few remains of a an entire culture. There isn't a clear cut bad guy this time Buffy."

She groaned. But he was right. It was one thing to cut a vampire or demon that were killing people for the fun of it, or for survival. Then it's just kill, clean up, move on to the next guy. And that was just how she liked it. Plain simple, and to the point with the guilty party having clear plans to kill, maim, destroy a city and cause mass destruction bad guys. Not bad mixed up with guilt at the destruction of an indigenous culture.

"I'm sorry Tobias, but I can't agree. This spirit warrior, Hus, was it? He's killed innocent people."

"And that is bad, but I also can't just destroy something because it does something bad. That be like saying every time you broke the law, I'd be obligated to kill you. Right Buffy?"

"Ok, you know what, we need to boil those, and put them through the ricer." Buffy said, pointing at the bowl of washed and peeled potatoes Giles had been attending to while reading the cookbook she was using for reference.

"I don't think I have a ricer." He said, causing the blonde to stop and look at him in shock.

"You don't have a ricer? What do you mean? How can someone not have a _ricer_?" She demanded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"W-Well, do you have one at home?"

Buffy thought for a moment. "I don't know, what's a ricer?"

Giles and Tobias both rolled their eyes before the former said, "We'll mash them with forks, much like the pilgrims must have. Did you catch the part about the innocent people?"

"Yes, ok. And I agree he needs to be stopped, but it's hard to just kill something like that. So, in this instance, I guess I would like a non-slayey of doing it."

"Hence the reason I'm pouring over some ten or twelve books trying to find a way to do that. Huh," Tobias stopped for a minute to read an interesting tidbit. "'Astral projection'...that actually works?"

"Oh, yeah, we've had experience with that, and it's really annoying at first. Not to mention that the kid who did it accidentally brought everyone's nightmares to life." Buffy said casually.

"Going to need to hear that story when we've got time." Tobias marked the page and moved on to the other more important business. But he made a mental note pursue that line of research at a later date. "But I might be on to something, if I'm reading this stuff on sealing right. I just need some time to confirm it."

Giles sighed but turned back to his work when the door knocked.

"I got it." Tobias made all the books that he couldn't find anything useful in close without him touching them, then stack themselves as he headed for the door. He opened it to find Willow at the door with her arms laden down with her own thick books. "Hey."

"Hey." She let herself in while Buffy looked up.

"Did you get the peas?"

"Peas." Willow nodded at two boxes of frozen peas on top of the box that Tobias tossed at Buffy while Willow set down her load.

"Willow, these are frozen."

"What is all this?" Tobias picked up a book and looked at the cover. It read: _A History of Sunnydale._

"Atrocities. I got the full scoop on the Chumash Indians and our, fabulous bearing mission." Willow said heatedly, sounding as angry as her hair was red.

"Willow, you said you were going to get fresh ones." Buffy objected.

"Atrocities?" She said confusedly.

"Peas. They come in little pods, you were going to shell them."

"I-I didn't have time, I was busy reading about the Chumash war."

"Weren't the Chumash peacefully Native Americans?" Tobias asked, flipping through the book on top of the pile.

"Oh, they were. They were the fluffy, indigenous kittens until we came along."

"They're going to be mushy." Buffy pouted as she looked at the boxes of peas.

"Boil a pot of water, put the peas over it in a strainer, you can steam them, and keep them firm. Be sure to shock them in cold water before you put them aside. If you don't, they'll keep cooking and then get mushy." Tobias told her absently. "So Willow, what did you learn about the Chumash?"

"What didn't I learn? How about things like imprisonment, forced labor, herded like animals into a mission full of bad European diseases?"

Buffy nodded slowly. "Wow. Cultural Partnership Center didn't really stress any of that stuff."

"Not even a diorama. And it gets better. The few Chumash who tried to rebel, were hanged. I want to group was accused of stealing cattle, they were killed. Men, woman, a-and children. And for prove to bring back to their accusers..."

"They cut off their ears?" Tobias asked rhetorically as he closed the book. Willow nodded. "So Hus wasn't kidding about the righteous vengeance spirit routine. He's re-creating all the wrongs done to his people."

"And it's up to us to stop him." Giles said, cleaning off his hands with a towel.

"Yes, but after dinner. Right?" Buffy looked around hopefully.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be helping him?" Willow asked.

"No, I don't think perhaps we won't help the angry spirit with his vengeful hate and murder." Giles said sarcastically while none of them noticed a grey wolf peering in through the window before it padded off.

"Ok, well, no, but we should be helping him readdresses his wrongs, bring atrocities the light."

"Considering they're already in these history books Willow, I'd say they already are."

"W-well, giving his land back."

"Um, you know..." Buffy tried to jump in but Giles cut her off with his response, "It's not exactly ours to give."

"You know, I don't think you want to help." Willow stated angrily. "I-I you just want to slay the demon and then go, 'la-la-la'"

"A-and I think your sympathy for his blight has blinded you to certain, urgent facts. We have to stop this thing."

"Ok, both of you, shut up!" Tobias shouted making everyone stop and look at him. In the month or so since he'd been here, he'd never raised his voice outside of shouting warnings or getting someone's attention. "Now, I agree with both of you, that he needs to be stopped, but doesn't deserve being killed. So, how about you two just wait for a minute and listen to my idea please."

"Um...I have to bast." Buffy excused herself from the tense atmosphere, going into the kitchen area and bending down to open the stove.

"Ok. It's relatively simple. We need to stop Hus, but we don't want to destroy him." He addressed both parties and got a nod from both. "So, I was thinking maybe we could seal him, or maybe release him from this...earthly plane, I don't know how spirits and this stuff works exactly. But if we seal him, then he's not dead but no longer dangerous either, how about that?"

The Watcher and the witch looked at each other distastefully but Giles said, "Fine. We'll try it your way."

"Thank you," Tobias said respectfully. "Now, Willow, when you have a few minutes, I've got some questions about magic that I'll need answered if we plan on sealing Hus. In the meantime, Giles, bring her up to speed on who's here please."

"Tobias!" He said sharply.

"Wait, do you guys mean..." She looked at Buffy who was still keeping herself busy so she didn't have to talk, then mouthed 'Angel?' "I saw him too." She explained when she saw their surprised expressions.

"Well that's not terribly stealthy of him." Giles said.

"Maybe he's losing his edge." Tobias thought out loud. "But does she know he's here?"

"No."

Giles nodded. "And we need to keep it that way, which means that we need to keep a level head in this."

"Yeah, well, I think we're the level heads and yours is the one that things would roll off of."

Giles got a aggravated look on his face but before he could speak up, the door knocked. Buffy quickly went to open it to show Xander and Anya, the latter have one of the formers arms around her shoulder. Xander looked terrible, pale and shaky with rings around his eyes while he was sweating slightly. He raised his free hand in greeting. "Happy Thanksgiving." He said, his voice sounding hoarse and stuffy.

"Xander." Willow said in alarm.

"You look like death." Giles went next.

"And that's being generous." Tobias went next.

"You ok?" Willow again. Then Buffy threw in her own two cents.

"You didn't bring rolls?"

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Doctor couldn't figure out what was up with me. Said I had a lot of symptoms that didn't connect." Xander told them as he laid down on the couch while Anya kept wiping off his forehead with a damp rag.

"I think they do connect." Buffy said, mixing a bowl of pie filling or crust with a whisk while Tobias and Willow pursued their individual books.

"What, to this... Chumash, spirit vengeance guy?"

"Will, didn't you say Chumash got all diseased? And they were held up in the mission?"

"Yeah. Um," she grabbed and flipped through another book. "This has a account of everything. It lists the various..."

"Various!? As in..."

"Well, the important thing is, not to panic." Willow tried to backtrack quickly.

"You just recited the mystical panic causing incantation, so little hope there." Xander sighed. "Let's talk about the various."

"We're talking pretty diseases." Tobias said, looking up from his book as he ticked them off on his fingers. "Malaria, smallpox, syphilis just to name a few."

"Syphilis?" Xander said in shock.

"Yeah, but considering it was given to you by a vengeance spirit, they'll all go away when Hus is stopped. Plus it's probably not contagious."

"How? I mean, have you guys even figured out to seal him yet?"

"Um..." Tobias scratched his next. "I did have an idea on which seal we could until Xander showed up. Now I wondering if the illnesses will act as a lifeline that he could use to get out of it, so...I'm back to square one here."

"Let's give him so land," Giles said loudly and sarcastically. "I'm sure that'll clear everything right up."

"Sarcasm accomplishes nothing Giles." Buffy scolded.

"Sort of an end in itself." He grumbled.

"Hey, can we come rocketing back to the part about me and my new syphilis?" Xander chuckled nervously.

"It'll make you blind, and insane, but it won't kill you." Anya encouraged him before saying matter-of-factly, "The smallpox will."

"W-well, maybe there's, there's a Wiccan spell. That can cure it, you know, something regular medicine doesn't know about. Oh, there was a potion..." Willow flipped through her books until she found a note card. She grabbed and read off, "Sagee, salt...onion?"

"That's the stuffing." Buffy said, grabbing the card.

"Oh god."

"Oh, you're going to get festiculs and pustules," Anya said interestedly, as she looked at the book Willow had been looking at. "They have pictures."

"Oh god." Xander said after seeing them. "I hate this guy."

"He's just going what was done to him and his people." Tobias told him.

"I didn't give him syphilis!"

"No, but you freed his spirit, after century of unrest, he saw you as one of his oppressors."

"What, so he rises up and infects the first guy he sees? That's no fair."

"Oh, like you've never woken up cranky. And that's after a night of sleep, he's been asleep for two hundred years, it's a miracle he's not killing everyone he sees." Tobias said before he growled and slammed his book shut. "Damn it, I can't find anything that we can use to seal him!"

"But why the others, why them?" Giles asked nobody in particular.

"So we're taking this guy out! Buffy, it's for to be slaying sometime soon, yeah?"

Buffy stopped whisking and looked uncomfortable as everyone looked at her. "It's, sort of a question before the court.

"Question?" Xander said after a moment. Buffy gave him and look and started whisking again, faster than before.

"What Buffy means is, there's two sides to this." Tobias explained.

"To slaying him?! Well the representative from syphili votes yea."

"It's not that simple." Willow said.

"He's a vengeance don't talk to vengeance demons, you kill them." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Anya, who had been running her fingers through his hair, stopped and slowly pulled her hand away.

"I didn't know you felt that way."

"What?" He asked her.

"Anyways, he's a spirit, not a demon." Willow corrected him timidly.

"Yes, and we've never faced this sort of spirit before, we don't really know how to kill it." Giles said while Anya started talking with Xander.

"Again with the killing." Willow said angrily.

"Ok, figuratively speaking..."

Tobias sighed as they all descended into two argument, one with Willow and Giles arguing their own points of view on killing Hus while Xander was trying to backpedal about vengeance demons, which his girlfriend was an ex of. Finally when it got to be too loud, Buffy stood up and said loudly, "This is no good!"

Everyone fell silent to look at her.

"It needs more condensed milk." She turned and went to the kitchen with Giles following close behind. Tobias decided to listen to their conversation and got up to stand on the other side of the counter.

"Buffy, Xander is in real danger, are you sure the solution is pie?"

"Over bickering and confusion, I'll take pie." She told her Watcher as she poured in the condensed milk to the bowl.

"We'll find a solution."

"And we will have a nice dinner. Ok. Both, end of story. We're going to have Thanksgiving, and it is going to be perfect." She said, as she aggressively whisked.

"Um, maybe be careful there, Buffy. If you beat that too much, it's going to be too airy and overflow in the pie crust when baking." Tobias told her as he watched the whisk move in a blur.

"Look, the fact of the matter is, Hus won't stop. Vengeance is never sated. Hatred is a cycle, all he will do is kill."

"Why do you think I just spent the past two hours looking through spell books for a sealing spell? I couldn't even find one that'll work on spirits the way we want it to, all I found were some rituals and a few spells, one of which apparently summons fairies." Tobias said. He'd also gotten some ideas to test out on his spare time. Before they could keep talking, there was another knock at the door. Everyone looked between themselves, wondering who was knocking when the entire gang was all here.

The black haired teen went to the door and opened it. He didn't see anyone and took two steps out to look, but the second he stepped beyond the boundaries of the apartment, someone grabbed his arm and moved in front of him.

It was Spike, but he looked as bad as Xander did. Pale, rings around the eyes, and his face was thinner than it had been when he'd last seen him. He had a torn, ragged blanket wrapped around him and over his head. He croaked out, "Help me."

Tobias's response was a right cross to the face followed by a kick to the chest that sent Spike to the ground, directly into sunlight and on his back while the teen stepped back inside.

"What part of help me do you not understand?!" Spike demanded as he scrambled to his feet, pulling the thick blanket over him as a shield while thick smoke poured off him.

"The part where I help you."

"Come on, I-I'm parboiling out here."

Buffy walked behind him and offered a thin stake to Tobias over his shoulder, which he took. "Want us to help make it quicker?"

"Just invite me in." He begged.

"No," Buffy said, sounding disgusted. Spike grimaced before charging towards them, only to be repelled by an invisible force into the sun again.

"Damn it!" He sweared. He had to huddle outside the doorframe to stay out of the sunlight, coughing up smoke, his face now streaked gray from it. "Look. I'm safe. I can't bite anyone. Willow, tell them what I did." He said, seeing the redhead witch stand up from the sitting room table.

"Y-y-you said you were going to kill me, then Tobias and Buffy."

"Ok, yes, bad, but let's skip that part, and get to the part where I couldn't bite you."

"It's true." She told them. "He had...trouble performing."

"Oh yeah." Tobias said, thinking back to that night. He was also thinking about how weird it looked to see Spike being unable to enter, even when he tried. Now he knew what to look for in that situation.

"Yeah, well, it looks like they've done me for good."

"Um, what are you sayings? Giles asked as he also came to the door.

"I'm saying that Spike had a little trip to the vet, and now he doesn't chase the other puppies any more. I can't bite anything, I can't even hit people."

"So you haven't murdered anyone lately? Let's be best pals!" Buffy said in a cheerful tone.

"Strike two, Spike. One more, and I hold you in the sun until you spontaneously combust." Tobias told him, changing his eyes to get his point across. If it was even possible, Spike somehow turned paler from the threat of death by fire. Possibly he was also remembering how Tobias had thrown him around like a rag doll without even being in the same room during their last encounter. He got a look on his face before the proverbial lightbulb went off.

"I've got information,about the soldier boys you were fighting. I've got the inside scoop."

The three looked between themselves. If Spike, doubtful as it was, really did have information on the commandos, then they needed it. Tobias hadn't told them about the underground base yet, wanting to do some more poking around to see if he could track down an entrance. Between patrolling and doing other things, he hadn't had time to look.

"Come on, what have you got to be afraid of?"

**A/N: next chapter will be the last one for this episode. Should be up in a week.**


	7. Pangs Part 3

"Ow! Bloody hell woman, you're cutting off my circulation." Spike grunted as Buffy tightened the ropes. After a quick, quite conversation, they had decided to let Spike in, on the grounds he be restrained at all times. So he was now tied to a chair.

"You don't have any circulation." Buffy said, finishing the knot behind him.

"Well, it pinches."

"Well, get used to it. We've got more important things than you to think about." Tobias told him as he helped Anya, who had taken over preparing the food behind the counter. Giles was sitting on his desk reading from a book, Willow was back to studying for a cure for Xander, and Xander...well he was being sick with syphilis.

"I came to you in friendship." Everyone looked at Spike. "Well, all right, seething hatred, but I've got useful information, and I feel I'm being mistreated."

"So, tell me everything you know." Buffy said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm too hungry to remember everything."

"Oh, you want to play that game?" Tobias set down his knife and walked around the counter, stopping in front of Spike. "Ok then." He lifted his right hand and a small cut appeared on his index finger, red blood welling out of the incision. He then pointed it and let it drip-drip while the blonde vampire strained against his bonds.

"Oh, now that is not bloody fair." He grunted as he tried to reach the red substance.

"No, it's not. But I don't think we ever mentioned anything about being fair, did we?" He asked Buffy.

"I don't think so."

"Hhmm. Oh, well." Tobias shrugged, licking the blood off his finger before putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding, ignoring the look of hate on Spike's face. "I suggest you get comfortable, cause you might be here for a while."

"Um, how much butter goes in with these?" Anya asked, pointing at some corn on the cob while holding a pot.

"About half a stick and a quarter cup of brandy. You do have brandy, right?" Buffy asked Giles nervously. He seemed to come out of a thoughtful state where he was looking off into space.

"What? Oh, yes, on the bookcase." He said, looking at the spot and taking off his glasses.

"I wouldn't say no to a brandy." Spike said, but nobody paid any attention to him.

"Something wrong Giles?" Tobias asked as he cleaned up the blood spots on the floor with a paper towel, his cut having slowed to oozing blood and still slowing. He tossed the paper towel and then got the brandy for Anya of the bookcase.

"The victims. Apart from Xander, Hus has targeted authority figures. Father Gabriel, the curator of the Cultural Center. Who else fits this pattern?"

"The dean." Buffy answered. "Dean Guerrero. H-he's the king of us," she gestured at herself and Willow. "And he was at the ceremony."

"A likely candidate, we should warn him."

"Will, anything in those books about how to stop a Native American spirit guy?" She asked as she went towards the witch. "Some nice, non-judgmental way to...you know, kill him?"

"I am not going to help you kill him! I'm not on board!"

"Willow, neither of us like it, but what choice do we have anymore? You and I have been through all these books, some twice, and we can't find squat in any of them that we can use to seal Hus." Tobias tried to reason with her, joining the duo.

"Guys, this isn't a western. We're not at Fort...Giles, with the cavalry coming to save us, it's one, lonely guy. Oppressed, warrior guy w-whose just trying to..."

"Kill a lot of people?" Buffy asked.

"Well, I didn't say he was right."

"Willow, you know how bad I feel about this," Buffy sighed. "Ok, it's eating me up inside- a quarter cup of brandy and let it simmer," she told Anya, anticipating the question she had been about to ask. "But even though it's hard, we have to end this. Yes, he's been wronged, and I would personally be ready to apologize but I..."

"Oh, someone put a stake in me." Spike said loudly, rolling his eyes as everyone gave him their attention.

"You got a lot of volunteers in here." Xander said from his spot on the couch.

"I just can't take all this namby-pamby boo-hooing about the bloody Indians."

"Um, the preferred term is..." Willow tried to say crossly.

"You won. All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. That's what Caesar did, and he's not goin' around saying, 'I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.'" he finished in a mocking tone.

"Oh don't talk to me about Caesar," Tobias said disgustedly. "The guy was arrogant, shallow, and talked to woman, taken or not, like he was Venus's gift to them, until finally he was stabbed in the back by his people." He then seemed to notice everyone was looking at him strangely. "Or, so I've heard."

"Whatever, the point is the history of the world isn't people making friends. You had better weapons and you massacred them. End of story." Spike finished.

"Well, I think the Spaniards actually did a lot of- Not that I don't like Spaniards." Buffy stopped when she saw Willow look at her.

"Listen to you. How you gonna fight anyone with that attitude?"

"We don't wanna fight anyone." Willow said.

"I just want to have Thanksgiving." Buffy said meekly, looking at the kitchen.

"Heh heh, yeah, good luck with that." Spike chuckled.

"Well, if we could talk to him..." Willow started to talk again.

"You exterminated his race. What could you possibly say that would make him feel better? It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick."

"Maybe it's the syphilis talking, but... some of that made sense." Xander said to everyone in general.

"I made a lot of these points earlier, but, you...its fine." Giles said shortly.

"Fine, ok, but someone still needs to warn the dean." Buffy spoke up before another argument could break out.

"I'll go, I need the air." Willow said, sounding depressed.

"Not alone." Buffy said firmly.

"I'll go." Anya volunteered.

"Me too." Xander grunted as he tried to sit up.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Oh leave that one. He looks like he's ready to drop at any moment, and I think I can eat someone if he's already dead." Spike said, craning his neck.

Tobias grabbed the nearest book and flung it at the vampire, hitting him in the head. "OW!"

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

"Yeah, I'm up for it." Xander nodded, forcing himself up.

"I'll um, stay here and keep looking for a solution." Giles said.

"Same." Tobias shrugged. "Or maybe I'll just help Buffy with the cooking." He'd looked through every book Giles had on sealing and magic and Native American spirits, three times now, and still found squat. It was looking more and more like they'd have to go with killing Hus, which left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Yeah, guys, the dean's house is up past the gym. And hurry! Dinners in an hour!" Buffy called as the trio walked out the door.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The sun set in a few hours and Buffy worked like a woman possessed. Tobias helped her where he could and she seemed to appreciate, but she was also pursuing her goal of a "perfect Thanksgiving" with single minded intensity. They moved Giles desk and got out a table he had for large gathering, setting it with a leave patterned table cloth and a small stuffed pilgrim doll in the middle standing up. While Buffy and Tobias did the preparations, Giles dug deeper and deeper through his stores of knowledge and books to find anything to stop Hus.

"Hey. When do I get fed?" Spike broke the silence.

"Later." Buffy said as she set the table with plates and silverware.

"Do you know what happens to vampires who don't get to feed?"

"I've always wondered about that actually." Giles said, looking up from his book and taking off his glasses.

"Giles, plates please." Tobias asked, handing some to his side of the table to set out.

"Living skeletons mate. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries. Only not half as funny."

"You can have gravy. That has blood in it right?" Buffy asked.

"Do you know what else has blood in it? Blood."

"Do we have to gag you?" Tobias asked, setting down his silver ware. "If not, I can make a cross or get a piece of wood to stab you with."

"I'm not going to listen to you whine all the way through my dinner." Buffy took up the line of conversation, still setting out places as she did. "It's going to be a nice, quiet, civilized..."

_**THWIP**_

The rant stopped as an arrow produced from the stomach of the pilgrim on the table, causing Tobias, Buffy, and Giles to blink owlishly at it. They looked up and towards the staircase. Through the open window was Hus, armed with a bow and quiver of arrows. He'd also added face paint, looking more war-like then before.

"You," Buffy said, shocked before seeing him reach for another arrow forced her to talk again. "L-listen, maybe I wasn't clear before about how terrible we all feel, because we're trying to help."

"What's going on?!" Spike demanded, trying to turn his chair around by jumping in it the best he could.

"She's working." Giles went to his Slayer and stood behind her protectively while Tobias reached for his power, eyes swirling into their silver color as he did.

"Uh, you can have casinos now!" Buffy offered. Hus apparently wasn't impressed, because he knocked his arrow while the windows on the opposite side of the house shattered, glass tinkering to the floor.

"Down!" Giles shouted as arrows started to fly, forcing himself and Buffy out of the way while Tobias moved into the hall.

"What about me? You're going to leave me like this?" Spike asked before Hus fired his arrow, embedding itself firmly in the right side of Spike's chest. He looked down at the wooden shaft before saying angrily, "Hey, watch the heart!"

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Well, that was a waste of time." Xander summed up the meeting nicely as the group left the deans house and started walking down the path.

"I think he thought we were crazy." Willow said.

"Well, maybe if Anya hadn't opened the conversation with 'everybody got both ears'."

The former vengeance demon walked between them holding a disposable paper plate with a piece of pie on it. "I liked his wife. She gave me pie." She said normally.

The meeting had gone, as they had said, horribly. Firstly, when they knocked, the dean's wife had answered and Anya had decided to open with the ear bit. Willow and Xander had tried to lessen the impact, coming up with an excuse to see the dean. It hadn't gone well, with Anya being typically blunt and the sheer insanity of what they were trying to warn him about. That a Native American spirit might be coming to kill him for crimes committed a little over two hundred years ago by pilgrims? It was a miracle he hadn't called the police so they could be escorted to a mental ward.

"So what do we do now?" Xander asked.

"Well, we could stay here and stand watch, or...I just don't..." Willow trailed off.

"Willow." They stopped talking when they noticed Angel standing at the end of the path. They hadn't noticed him before because of his all black clothing and his back having been to them.

"Angel?" Xander said.

Anya looked over the vampire. "So this is Angel. He's...large and glowery, isn't he?"

"He's evil again." Xander said, looking at the vampire in slight fear.

"I'm not evil again, why does everyone think that?"

"Angel's here to protect Buffy." Willow explained.

"You know, I haven't been evil for a long time."

"She's not supposed to know he's here. Angel, do you have something new?" Willow asked, knowing he wouldn't show himself like this if it wasn't important.

"Yeah, all the Chumash weapons are missing from the Cultural Center. Something's up, where's Buffy?"

"Still at Giles. She sent us to check on Dean Guerrero."

"Why the dean?" Angel asked, not seeing the logic.

"Well, we think he's going after someone in charge, a-a leader."

"He's a warrior. To a warrior, the leader means the strongest fighter." Angel said thoughtfully. Then his eyes widened at the same time the

others did.

"Buffy." Xander voiced their thoughts.

"He's formed a raiding party." Angel stated.

"We got to get over there."

"I'll call her; you guys get over there fast." He looked around and spotted a nearby bike stand, with three bikes on it and chains around their wheels. "Here, you guys can ride." He knelt and pulled apart the chains with ease.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The phone rang as Buffy and Giles were staying hunched down to avoid the arrows flying over their heads and Tobias was still in the hallway to avoid becoming an easy target. The British man slowly reached up and grabbed it before putting the ear piece next to his.

"H-hello? Yes... Yes, w-w-we're well aware of that... We-we're under siege now, actually. Thank you." He said before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Buffy asked, wondering who would be calling now.

"A-uh, someone. We need a plan."

"Yes, let's talk about it some more." Spike suggested sarcastically. Since he was tied to a chair and unable to move, he had two more arrows sticking out of him. One halfway through his left shoulder and another embedded between his ribs on the right.

"Oh, do us all a favor and shut up Spike!" Tobias shouted.

"Where's your weapon chest?" Buffy asked Giles.

"Over there." Giles nodded at a dark wood chest resting against the wall across from them.

"Tobias, how many are there?"

"I'm counting seven including Hus, but only four have bows, the rest have knifes and clubs." Tobias peeked out from the corner, ducking his head back as an arrow almost met it. Specifically there was Hus and another spirit up on the balcony outside, Hus firing through the window, two firing through both living room windows accompanied by one spirit each, and the last one was firing through the window at ground level, next to the door. "Ok, Buffy, I'm going to draw their attention, get something you can throw or shoot from the chest."

He then walked out into the middle of the room, an easy target to all the shooters, and spread his arms in invitation. Before Buffy could yell at him to get back, the archers took their chance and shot, four bolts screaming towards him. She felt her heart stop and her stomach drop. It was the same feeling Buffy always got before someone she couldn't save died.

Only one problem. Instead of the arrows tearing into Tobias, they all stopped in mid-air, hanging motionless a foot from him. Buffy felt her jaw sag before Tobias opened his eyes and glared at her.

"I believe I said to get something from the chest, Slayer." He growled before snapping his fingers. The arrows reversed direction and fired at the windows they had come from. Hus leaned back and let his arrow fly past him, but here was a cry of pain from one of the living room windows. The sound snapped Buffy out of her trance and she quickly went to the chest and opened it, moving quickly while the Native American spirits focused on Tobias, trying to hurt him for injuring one of their own. All they managed to do was waste their arrows as they all stopped before dropping to the ground or being fired right back at them.

Buffy grabbed two crossbows that were already loaded, keeping one while handing the other to Giles. He took it and Buffy said, "Ok, 1...2...3." Buffy and Giles both aimed and fired their cross bolts. Giles's apparently hit its target, the right living room window, since there was a grunt and arrows stopped coming from it as a steady stream. Buffy aimed at Hus and fired but he simply leaned back again and dodged it. Spike rolled his eyes at the second miss.

Tobias figured they were starting to run low on arrows and was about to start counter attacking, starting with the one outside the door when he heard the shatter of pottery and a body hitting the ground. He fired another Air Pulse and "saw" a spirit getting up while pieces of a pot and dirt were around and on him, while Xander was backing up.

"Stop them!" Hus commanded and his accompanying spirit jumped down to confront Xander before spotting Anya and Willow. He apparently thought they were easier targets and went after them instead, until they both grabbed a shovel that were lying out and started beating him over the head with them. Tobias pointed at the open window and three arrows sped out, hitting him in the heart and both lungs from behind. He staggered but didn't drop to the ground as he expected. He just kept defending himself while Willow and Anya hit him.

"Enough!" Hus burst through the window onto the staircase with the Chumash knife in his hand while the others burst through the living room window, taking Tobias attention away from the outside. The vengeance spirit jumped to ground level and Buffy engaged him while Tobias sent six more arrows to hit the two spirits that came from the window in the chest. Like the first, they staggered but seemed to be able to ignore the large pieces of wood sticking out of them.

"Buffy, these guys don't die!" Tobias shouted before ducking a knife slash and punching him in the stomach. Giles grabbed a flail from his weapon chest and used it against the spirit

"Got it!" Buffy yelled back as she fought Hus. He was good for an old spirit, with more fighting experience making up for his lack of speed and strength against hers. He ducked under her spin kick and tried to stab her stomach, while she danced out of the way of the attack, back handing the spirit into the wall as she did. She kicked again, but he rolled out of the way and kept attacking. She grabbed a knife from the table and started crossing blades with the spirit.

'What does it take to kill these guys?" Tobias growled in his head as he snapped the neck of the guy he was fighting. He went limp only for his head to righten itself and straighten into a properly standing position. Weapons didn't work, since this guy still had three broken arrows in him, physical harm didn't work, what would it take to kill a spirit? He reviewed what he had learned from the books earlier while dodging and parrying on autopilot.

Spirits were mostly impervious to physical forms of harm, but they could be vulnerable to certain types of it depending on the spirits in question. Magic could hurt or banish them, but only if you had the right spell and ingredients to cast the spell, which they didn't. If all else failed, they could be hurt with their weapons if they had any, but they had already tried that. He'd sent arrows through these guys and nothing, while Hus had commanded them...

Wait. Wait that was it! Hus had summoned these spirits and was commanding them, like a queen ant or bee commanded her workers. When the queen fell, the other workers became lost, without purpose, and died. That meant that while Hus was alive, these spirits were unkillable, but Hus himself was a different story.

"Buffy, you need to kill Hus, that's the only way we can beat these guys!"

"Working on it." Buffy grunted as she received a cut on the arm. She had managed some light scratches on Hus with her own knife but they healed instantly and he didn't seem to be tiring.

"His knife, use his knife to kill him!" Tobias broke the neck of his fighter again before focusing his power on the knife Hus was holding. The knife was yanked from his hand and slashed him across the upper forearm, leaving a deep cut before going to Buffy's free hand, which she grabbed instantly when she saw it had injured Hus.

"Got it." Buffy said, dropping the other knife she'd be holding and changing it so Hus's was in her dominant hand.

Hus looked at them both before drawing himself up like he had the night before. Only instead of changing into a flock of crows, he grew taller and thicker while black fur grew out of his skin, and his clothes melted. When he had finished, he was a seven foot black bear that gave off a threatening, deep roar.

"A bear!" Spike, who had been mostly ignored during the encounter, shouted in alarm. "You made a bear!"

"We didn't do it on purpose!" Tobias was getting tired of his opponent getting up after his neck kept being broken, so he broke it one last time before taking the body and hurling it out the window with his powers. Tobias wasn't one hundred percent sure where he went but by the sound of breaking branches and then silence, most likely through a tree's branches before stopping...somewhere.

"Undo it! Undo it!" Spike yelled at them. What was his problem with bears? Buffy would've kept going with that line of thought if she had time, but the bear that was now Hus swung his paw and knocked her back into the wall. Spike was trying to "jump" away from Hus but only succeeded in making it a few feet before losing his balance and falling over.

Buffy pushed herself off the way and ducked under another strike while looking for the right spot to stab the bear, but he was still fast despite his size. She needed a distraction.

"Hey Smokey!" Tobias shouted, getting behind the bear and stabbing it in the back with another knife from the table. While it didn't kill him, it did get the spirits attention and he turned quickly aiming a swipe at Tobias's head. Buffy expected him to duck or back up, but instead he lifted his arm and blocked it! The paw was in Tobias's free left hand and had been swung at him hard enough to at least knock him off his feet at best. At worst it would've taken his head off, but he had done it easily, effortlessly. "Buffy, now!"

The blonde shook herself out of her daze. Question how that was possible later, kill spirit now and then check on friends. With that in mind, Buffy lunged forwards and sunk the knife between the ribs of the large animal, into the heart. Hus roared in pain and staggered while Buffy and Tobias backed away. Buffy felt guilt mixing in with her relief that it was finished. Hus hadn't been bad per say, he had just wanted his people to have their rightful revenge. As the spirit melted back into his human form then started melting into a green mist, Tobias bowed his head, then looked regretfully at Hus.

"I'm sorry. And I hope you find peace Hus."

Maybe it was her imagination, but it looked like Hus gave Tobias a respected look, bowing his head in return before he turned fully mist and then vanish, spreading into the air to the point of nothingness. The resulting silence was startling and gave Buffy a chance to fully take in the room.

Arrows were still pointing out of places like the table and couch, and Giles was picking himself up with a nasty bruise forming on the side of his head, a dent in the plaster of the nearest wall. The door, she noticed, had been kicked open at some point and Xander was getting up from the ground while Anya and Willow, holding shovels were slowly coming in. There was glass from the broken windows everywhere, but the ironic thing was, aside from missing two knives and being unfinished in setting, the table was almost untouched. She silently put the Chumash knife down and looked around at her friends. None of them looked seriously injured, and Hus was dead. They had survived yet another encounter with the supernatural. Buffy got that feeling of loss and sadness again, stronger and closer than before and looked out the window in the courtyard. There was nothing there.

Spike, still on the ground and unsure of what just happened, spoke up. "What happened, did we win?"

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"I feel lousy." Willow grumbled as she picked at her plate of food an hour later, after they had finished setting up and cleaning up the best they could.

"Well, the turkey came out rather splendidly." Giles pointed out.

"Oh, I-it was yummy," Willow agreed. "It's just...did you see me? Two seconds of conflict with an indigenous person and I turn into General

Custard."

"It couldn't be helped Willow." Tobias said from beside her. "They were trying to kill us and instinct kicked in. We couldn't do anything but fight."

"Yeah. That's the fun." Spike said dully.

Xander looked up from his plate. "Nobody asked you."

"Oh, there you are." Spike managed to make his tone both uninterested and snarky. "You all had a fine meal. But me? An entire siege. You'd think one of you would bleed a little."

Giles gave Spike a look then ignored him. "Well, good work Buffy, o-on both counts."

Buffy gave a slight smile and looked at everyone. "Thanks."

"He's right, this is really good," Tobias assured her. "Tastes like home. And turkey. Plus stuffing." He added, trying to make her laugh.

"Well, I guess it wasn't exactly a perfect Thanksgiving."

"Well, I don't know. Felt kinda right to me." Xander spoke up. "Bunch of anticipation, a big fight, now we're all sleepy."

"And we did all survive." Giles chuckled.

"I guess that much is true. First Thanksgiving on my own and we all got through it." Buffy said, looking much happier.

"And, I think my syphilis is clearing right up." Xander said while slipping an arm around Anya.

"And they say romance is dead." Buffy said tightly with a forced smile.

"No, they just wish it." Tobias chuckled.

"Well, maybe we started a new tradition this year." Willow suggested. When she saw everyone's looks, she amended herself. "Maybe not.

But, at least we all worked together. It was like old times." She finished nostalgically.

"Yeah, especially with Angel being here and everything." Xander said.

The sounds of dinner almost instantly stopped when the teen said that and the air around it had turned awkward. Tobias took a quick glance at Buffy and saw her face was frozen, but her eyes showed that the previous sentence was slowly being processed. And Tobias had a feeling that once it finished, they were _all_ in for it. And it looked like Xander realized it too, because he said one word.

"Oops."

**A/N: Ok, I realize that this chapter was a bit jerky at the end, but it was hard to finish. I know what I wanted to; it was just hard to get it out of my head. So, next chapter will be having Buffy doing what she did in the next episode, and no, Tobias is not going to join her. I'll list the reasons why then, but it's also because I had an idea that's going to turn out very well if it works, and mix things up a bit. See you then.**


	8. Something Blue part 1

"So when your spirit is off doing something, your body is in a coma-like state?" Tobias asked Giles as he read the passage that had been pointed out to him.

"Yes, at least, that's what is documented. And I've a small amount of experience with this, as I told you."

"Sorry, it's just...I've never seen evidence of this being possible, so I might need a few minutes to digest."

It was the next day and Tobias was at Giles house asking about astral projection. It had gotten his interest and he wanted to learn more about it. Plus it took his mind off the "fantastic" talk Buffy had given them last night.

Yeah, she had picked each and every one of their brains to find out why Angel had been there and she hadn't even seen him. She had been ruthless, not letting them leave until she had the whole story from everyone, and she had done it under a polite and friendly manner, like they were talking about the weather. But it was obvious she had anger and aggression boiling under that paper thin disguise, and it had made everything seem more terrifying three times over. She had then grabbed the soonest bus going to LA today to see her ex and get an explanation from him.

Tobias had never felt sorrier for anyone, not even that time Jack had taken him drinking the first time, which resulted in minor property damage and his mother politely requesting that Tobias and Jack never do that again, or they'd be losing something very important to male anatomy.

But coming back to astral projection, Tobias was interested in learning more about it, maybe even trying it since it was apparently possible. But that required that he pick Giles brain on the subject and all his stores of books. It had been enlightening to say the least.

"Ok, let me just make sure I've got all of this straight," Tobias said, setting down his book. "Astral projection means taking your spirit, you awareness, and basically sending it to a higher plane of awareness. From there, you can wander through time and space while being fully aware of what you're seeing, essentially making you a ghost."

"Correct." Giles nodded.

"However, to attain a state of higher awareness, one needs to be mentally disciplined and properly prepared to do this, otherwise one is liable to lose their connection to their body and become lost in what we'll refer to as the spirit world, resulting in the person being trapped in limbo while their body dies."

"Yes."

"But if one succeeds, you can go anywhere and when if you focus hard enough, but places you've been to or that have a strong personal meaning are easier then places that you've never been to. And one can return to their body at any time by merely thinking it."

"That sums it up nicely, well done." Giles praised.

"Thank you. So, what you're saying in a very roundabout way is that this is extraordinarily difficult and potential dangerous, not to be taken on a whim or 'flight of fancy' because the consequences of doing this wrong is either nothing happens at best, or death at worst."

"Um, yes," Giles coughed. "Well, I thought you should be aware of what a large undertaking this would be if you insisted on attempting it, and the possible repercussions that this experiment might have."

"And I thank you for that Giles, but I already had a feeling that would be the case. Plus, I'm not normal in case you didn't notice." Tobias said absently as he looked at the books on the table in front of them. He got that astral projection could be dangerous, but was anything worth doing safe? You could say that rock climbing was dangerous, but people did it anyways. Same with sky diving (which would be redundant for him. If he wanted to fall several thousand feet, he'd fly that high and then just enjoy gravity doing the work), scuba diving, racing, zip lining, the list went on for miles. Point was he wanted to try this and he was going to put in the work to do it.

The meditating wasn't a problem, he did that every other day. It was soothing, plus when he used it with his powers, he could feel everything around him. A clear and focused mind made it so he could tell you where someone was, if not what they were doing at the time, without him using an Air Pulse. The deeper he dug into his "well of power" as his girlfriend so adequately put it, the more his range of sensing and the amount of power he could muster on a whim increased. If he went all the way to the source...

"Wait." Tobias said out loud.

"Something wrong?" Giles asked, seeing that Tobias looked like he had just had a thought. No, strike that, an epiphany would be a better way of putting that.

"It's a spirit..." Tobias said to himself before grabbing a book and flipping through the pages quickly while talking to himself. "If it's a spirit, then it has to interact somehow with this worlds spirit world, meaning I used it right... that would mean I'd have to go into that state, but if I did, then I could use it as both a bridge and tether, meaning I could tap into the spirit world easier without risking...YES!" Tobias shouted in triumph, making Giles jump as Tobias shot to his feet. "Yes, that would work! Thanks Giles, I got to go, I think I'm on to something!" Tobias jumped over the couch and ran out the door, slamming it as he did.

"Um...you're welcome?" Giles said, not entirely sure what just happened.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Willow was sitting in her dorm room finishing up her schoolwork. With Thanksgiving break still going on, she wanted to catch up on school work that had gotten piled up with Hus and vampires and other supernatural stuff. After all, even good students like her could slip if they didn't keep up.

"There, finished." She put down her pencil. Now she could just sit back and rela...

Before she could even finish that thought, someone started pounding quickly at her door. And by quickly, she meant quickly and loudly, like they were beating a tribal drum.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She got up from her desk and opened the door before she could get a hole or at least a dent in it. "Tobias? What's wrong?" The teen was panting and flushed like he had just run a few miles.

"Sorry, really excited, I think I'm onto something big here." He panted. "Um, can I come in?"

"Y-yeah, please." She invited him in. "So, what's so important that you arrived all red and...panty?"

"Yeah, sorry, but I just came from Giles. Had a brain blast, and I needed someone to watch me while I tried out my idea." Tobias took a breath then let it out. "Huh, ok, better now. Um, I should start from the top, shouldn't I?"

"That would be helpful." Willow nodded, sitting down on her bed while Tobias sat down on Buffy's.

"Ok. I was thinking about a passage on astral projection that I found in one of Giles books yesterday, and since I didn't have any plans for the day, so I wanted to learn more about it. With that in mind, I went over to his place and learned about it. Now, I got the details and process, plus risks, and Giles said it would be difficult."

"It is." Willow nodded. "I've seen some mentions of it in spell books, and they all say it's pretty hard."

"Yeah, well, the authors of those books might be proven wrong very soon." Willow looked confused. "Ok, listen. I had an idea, which, if it works, will let me astral project without being so time consuming, maybe taking away from some of the risk too. So, I ran over here so I could test it out."

Willow nodded slowly. "Ok, you had me until the last point. Why come here, why not stay there and test it? I mean, Giles is better at this stuff then me."

Tobias nodded slowly. "True. He probably would be the better option for testing this, but..." He sighed. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

He leaned forward. "I like you. Wait, just let me finish, please." He held up his hand when he saw Willow blush and open her mouth. "I don't like like you, but...well, you're more...approachable? Yeah, approachable. Giles is, and don't tell him I said this, uptight and while I can tell he's accepting me, he's also looking for information I'm not ready for anyone else to know. You, I trust more than Giles to keep my personal information secret. Until I'm ready to share. So, here I am."

Willow blushed again, but it was for a different reason then the first time. She was quite honestly touched that the newest member of their small Scooby Gang trusted her to keep his secrets better then Giles. The Watcher who was older, more experienced, wiser and overall a better choice for advice had been passed over for her. A young, inexperienced witch that struggled to cast spells without blowing something up or causing the whole thing to flop. During high school, she had been bullied and made to feel unimportant, just some nerd that could be made to do everyone else's work. She knew she had grown out of it, or nearly anyways, since meeting Buffy and going to college, where knowledge was encouraged instead of beaten down, had just made her more confident in herself and her smarts. But she still got shy and uncomfortable at times, like being trusted with someone's secrets.

"O-ok. So, what did you want to test?"

Tobias took a breath. Time for the big plunge, because what he was about to do was going to raise questions.

"Ok, well, Giles told me that astral projection is possible, but you need to be mentally disciplined and be able to access higher planes of awareness, which have rules all on their own and you need some magical equipment to do it properly. But, I might have a way to bypass the equipment requirement and possibly cut the time requirement down to nearly nothing."

"What?! How!?" Willow didn't mean to shout, but having that kind of short cut in anything involving magic can be potential dangerous, to the point of punching a hole in reality. But if it's done right, then it's incredibly helpful.

"First, I want you to promise me what I'm about to tell you will not leave this room."

"Promise." Willow nodded.

"Ok. First I'm going to need to go into my powers and how they work for you to understand." Tobias told her, getting a nod to show she was listening. "All right, now, think of my powers as...ok, I can't believe I'm going with this example, but think of them like a well. What I've used is the surface of my powers, just stuff I can access on a whim. With me so far?" Another nod. "Ok, so, this is what I look like when I'm accessing that level of power." He did just that and his eyes turned silver. "When I go to the second level of power, I get this."

Willow watched as his eyes turned from a familiar silver color to a pure white, surrounding his pupil until looked like a black hole in a field of whiteness. She also noticed that the power he was giving off had skyrocketed. She never knew how to explain it, but maybe because she was a witch, she could get a general sense of how strong Tobias was when he was using his powers, like a buzz in the back of head, or maybe a prickle at the back of her neck. Either way, the feelings grew more intense.

"So, this level two of your powers?"

"Exactly. But I can go even stronger, fully tap into the source of my powers. When I do, they get exponentially more powerful than anything else I've shown any of you, plus my eyes get...weird."

"Good weird or bad weird?" Willow asked nervously.

He shrugged. "Just weird. It's not really good or bad, it's just something happens when I go full throttle. But, the important thing is the source of my powers might be connected with higher planes of consciousness, maybe even what I'm going to call the spirit world, which is what I want to test."

Willow, being the genius she was, quickly caught on to what he was saying. "You're thinking you can use your power source as a bridge."

Tobias snapped his fingers. "Yes. But I need someone to watch me when I attempt it, because if I'm wrong and can't stop myself, then you need to pull me back."

"How? I don't know how to stop something like that."

"Punch me, hit me with something, I just need you to break my concentration. Then I should be able to cut off my link and pull myself back. Can you do that?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

"All right, then I guess I'll start. Do you have any plans for the day, because this might take a while since I'm just guessing here?" He noticed her hesitate before slowly shaking her head. Clearly she did have plans, but if she didn't want to share, then he wouldn't push her. "Ok then, let's do this." He flicked his hand and the door lock clicked. He got up from Buffy's bed and went to the middle of the room before crossing his legs and putting his hands on his knees, looking like he had already achieved enlightenment like monks always tried to do. "One more thing. Don't freak out." He added before closing his eyes.

"Why would I freak...?" Before Willow could finish her sentence, her senses were suddenly pummeled. It felt like they had just been hit by ten sledgehammers at the same time while the air around Tobias started swirling at extremely high speed, turning white and making a ball around him. The best she could describe it was like a tornado in a sphere, since nothing else in the room was even moving from the wind that was clearly inside. That wasn't even taking account the power that she could feel inside, which set her nerves on end, because she had never felt anything like it from Tobias. The glowing eyes that suddenly appeared only increased her feeling before the sphere dissolved like milk in water.

He looked normal. Same clothes, ruffled and messed up, same face, same everything, but his eyes were glowing a solid bluish-white, replacing the whites and pupils.

"Out?" Willow finished with a squeak. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but a tornado in a bottle followed by her newest friend having miniature moons for eyes was not it! And now he...was just floating there. Well, just floating there while giving off enough power to feel like an ocean was in the room, but the point was he wasn't doing anything. The witch slowly got off her bed and went in front of him. She hesitantly lifted her hand and waved it in front of his face, but she didn't get a response. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"Tobias? Can you hear me?" Still nothing. "Oh boy."

She was debating if she should do what Tobias had asked her to do and slap him to bring him back, but before she could, something tapped her shoulder. She jumped and spun around, but there was nothing there. She suddenly had a feeling they weren't alone and that something was watching them. She looked back and jumped again. The reason being there was writing the in air in front of her. It read: _Yes, Willow, I can hear you. Also, it worked._

She blinked before the words dissolved and reformed. _Look behind you._

Willow spun around and her jaw dropped.

"Hiya." Tobias waved cheerfully.

"But...you're...how..." Willow looked between the two copies of Tobias. One was floating and had glowing eyes, the other looked like the same Tobias, except with silver eyes. It was like someone had photocopied him and edited it so their eyes were different. "You did it."

"Yeah. Pretty sure, since I'm looking at myself. Which is no stranger then it was the first time." Tobias muttered as he looked at himself. "Not to mention..." He lifted a finger and touched Willow's forehead. Or rather, his finger slipped through into her head, which made the witch back up.

"Don't do that, that's super creepy!" She shuddered.

"Sorry, but...it's just, this so cool! I've never done something like this before, plus I'm already thinking how useful this can be in tons of other things. I mean, I'm basically a ghost, without the being dead part."

"So...how do you feel?" Willow asked anxiously.

"Good. I just feel normal. Little lighter maybe, but that's it."

"How did you just appear?"

"I just thought it. Look, first I'm gone..." He vanished, then reappeared. "Then I'm back. Plus I can," he vanished again. "Be anywhere." He finished behind her.

She jumped again. "Will you stop that!?"

"I'm sorry, but teleporting on a whim is cool. Plus I think I've got a basic rundown of what I can and can't do in this form. Teleport, become visible and invisible, talk, and this is all in the first five minutes. Once I've had time to experiment, I should know everything."

"Ok, but in the meantime can you...go back to you? Talking to astral you while real you is right there is...weird. I mean, weirder then the normal weird we deal with."

"Sure. Um...let's see, it should be simple," Tobias approached his physical body. "According to Giles's books, when one is done astral projecting, they can go back to their bodies by thinking it, or..." He touched his real body's heart and his spirit was suddenly sucked in like a vacuum cleaner had been turned on. He gasped and hit the ground hard while breathing heavily, eyes fading to silver.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." He said as he sat up and saw Willow's worried face. "Just...holy cow that was a rush." He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face. His heart was racing and he had adrenaline pumping through him from his experience. It felt like he'd just gotten off an intense roller-coaster ride. "Just give a sec to catch my breath."

A few minutes later and they were sitting across from each other, Tobias having gotten his heart rate back to normal and his senses sorted on his first experience with astral projection.

"So how was it?" That was the first question Willow asked.

Tobias's face split into a grin. "Incredible. It's hard to explain, but it felt like...like I was shedding everything I didn't need until I was down the bare essentials of what I am. Like slipping out of a lead coat that I've always worn and was just noticing it because it was gone. Course now that I'm back in my real body, it feels like I weigh a million pounds." He looked distastefully at his hands. He was going to need to get used to the differences between his bodies, otherwise he might get unhinged and want to stay in his astral form all the time. That would be bad for him.

"But that's not the thing you want to talk about, is it?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Ok, ask your questions. But I warning you right now, I'm not giving you all the answers. There are things I can't share yet, and things I won't share yet."

"Ok." Willow took a breath. "How did you...get a spirit in you? And what kind of spirit is it?"

Tobias snorted, but he didn't sound amused. "I was born with it, and it was put in me by people who didn't know what the hell they were doing when they did it. It's only thanks to incredible circumstances and dumb luck I'm not dead. As for what kind of spirit...a very old and very powerful one. And yes," he added, seeing Willow's eyes widen slightly. "As you've guessed, it's what gives me my power."

"Does it have a name?"

"No. Not really, it just...exists. It'd be like asking why magic exists, or why we breathe oxygen instead of carbon dioxide, or why we're here at all. There's no real answer to any of those questions, and there's no real name for what I've got. Just a label, which I'm keeping to myself."

"Are there any...side effects?" Willow asked.

"From housing the spirit, I get these eyes," Tobias jerked a thumb at them. "For using more of its power, they change color until they get to what you saw them change into. Plus one hell of a headache if I use my powers too intensely for too long. Aside from that, not really. Is there anything else, or is that it? I want to go test my limits on what my astral form can and can't do."

"Just one." Willow hesitated for a second, wondering if she was pushing her luck, but then forged ahead. "Where did you came from? Before Sunnydale I mean."

He just stared at her blankly for a few minutes, until Willow was slightly squirming under the pressure of the silence. She looked down at the floor, wondering why she had asked that when it had been clear to her that it was unlikely she'd get an answer. She chanced a glance up and was surprised at what she saw on Tobias's face. Instead of a blank look or even a slightly disapproving one, he had a slight smile on his face, like he found her question amusing.

"Someplace like Sunnydale, but even more interesting." He stood up and nodded. "Have a good day, Will. I'll see you later." He then left the room, silently closing the door behind him, and leaving Willow to ponder the implications of that parting sentence.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tobias attempted to touch the pencil sitting in front of him, but his hand simply slipped through it and the table it was resting on. He pulled back, concentrated on his limb, and then tried again. Only this time, he was able to touch and lift the pencil like he was solid.

"Ok then...this is...weird." He said slowly before the pencil slipped through his hand, clattering to the surface it had previously rested on.

He'd been experimenting slowly for the past half hour with his astral body, and he'd made some interesting discoveries. Firstly, his first impressions on what he could do had been right. He couldn't touch anything, and nothing could touch him. He could "teleport" for lack of a better word, but he found out that it was easier to go to places rather than trying to teleport to a person. He'd tried both, firstly teleporting to outside Giles's place and back to his room at Buffy's house, where his real body was sitting cross legged on the bed. Then he'd tried teleporting to Joyce, but it had taken a few seconds to actually do it, appearing next to her in the kitchen when she was washing dishes. That was another thing, nobody could see him unless he willed it. He'd tested that by walking out of the kitchen, willing that he could be seen, and then walked back in. It had worked apparently, because she'd asked him if he was ok since he'd gone straight to his room when getting home. He'd assured her was fine and just thinking, which wasn't technically a lie.

That of course raised a whole other bunch of questions that needed testing, like if he could get someone specific to see him but not others. With that in mind, he'd tested it at the university. He'd gone to a class that had been in progress, stood onto the desk at the front of it, then willed it for everyone except the teacher, who had been sitting at said desk, to see him. Everyone had done so and the amusement of everyone had drawn the teacher's attention, asking everyone what was so funny. Tobias, satisfied by that line of inquiry and feeling a bit mischievous at the time, had willed himself vanish, to the collective shock of the classroom.

So, he could teleport, reveal himself to anybody or only certain people, and was a ghost that couldn't be touched. Until he remembered that the first time he'd astral projected, he'd managed to touch Willow on the shoulder without thinking about it. Now he knew why.

Because he was using the spirit that resided in his body as the link to the spiritual world and tether to his body, he could actually still use his powers in his astral body, no matter where he was. All he had to do was make a paper thin barrier around his spirit body and presto. Instant moving and touching capability.

Tobias could only think of one thing to say.

"This is so overpowered it's not even funny." He had all the powers of an astral form along with all his normal power at his disposal. Mixing the two meant there was few if any ways to hurt him, which only made it more tempting to stay in his astral form all the time. But the disadvantages, like leaving his body until it died of hunger or dehydration, plus the fact that this was _not_ something to be abused, tempered the temptation. With that in mind, he went to his body and placed a hand on his shoulder, going back into it. That wasn't strictly necessary, but it just felt right. Suddenly being back in his body because he willed it no matter where he was might save time, but it was jarring. His spirit being sucked back into it was actually an easier transition now that he was used to it.

Tobias groaned as he stretched his cramped legs and popped his spine. Being in the same position for a half hour was horrible on the joints. But, he'd achieved his goal of astral projection and learned his limits in it to the best of his ability. Now, he had other things to do.

He grabbed the pencil off the table and his sketchbook before leaving his room, wanting to do some more drawing to pass the time until he had to go on patrol and for when Buffy came back from LA. He really felt sorry for Angel.

An angry ex-girlfriend was bad. An angry ex-girlfriend who could kick a full grown man's ass seven ways to Sunday and not even get tired, was even worse. And while he wanted to meet the rest of Angel's team, he was not sitting beside a seething blonde for however long the bus ride to the city would take. He'd end up with PTSD from the tension.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The next two days were quite enough. Buffy came back from LA and helped with patrols again, Willow with her on the first night so she had a friend to talk to. Tobias noticed the witch would have a thoughtful look on her face when she looked at him, but she never said anything and he never made any signs he wanted to breach the subject she was undoubtedly thinking about. When they weren't patrolling, he, Buffy, and Giles were trying to get more information out of Spike, but he was reluctant to part with any, knowing it was one of the only things that was preventing them from staking him. As for him feeding, they made trips to the butchers and bought pig's blood for him to drink, which was heated to 98.6 degrees so he would actually take the stuff.

Willow suggested a truth spell and promised to return the next day with the ingredients for it. Buffy and Giles had mused how she seemed to be coping with Oz's departure better but still had a way to go, until Spike threw in his own two cents and said she was hanging on by a thread, which could be seen by "any ninny," as he put it.

Now he, Buffy, Anya, and Xander were sitting at a table in the Bronze while the former two filled in the latter two while the band played all the small things by Blink 182.

"Jeez. You mean Oz just sent for his stuff and didn't even call her?" Xander asked in disbelief. "That's _pretty _harsh."

"I only wish I had my powers back, I'd liquefy his entrails for her." Anya said like it was completely normal to kill a guy for a friend.

'And that makes me feel very glad you don't.' Tobias thought privately to himself.

"Aw, that's sweet." Xander humored his girlfriend. "God, poor Will. No wonder she's..." He stopped when he looked at the dance floor, then finished in a slightly confused tone. "Having a wonderful time?"

"What?" Tobias looked in the same direction. Sure enough, Willow was dressed up and dancing away to the music like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Wow. Way to rebound." Buffy voiced her thoughts.

"I believe that's the dance of a brave little toaster." Xander said semi proudly. The group watched the redhead for a few seconds before she seemed to notice them and moved through the crowd towards them.

"Hey, guys, come on, this music's great!"

"It's nice to see you brought your boogie shoes tonight, Will."

"Yeah. You know, I-I know I've been sort of a party poop lately, so I said to myself 'self' I said, 'it's time shake and shimmy it off.'"

"Sounds like a good plan." Tobias commented, but he also noticed that she was slightly off balance and swaying without realizing it. Plus nobody, and he meant nobody normal, could shake off that kind of hurt without some serious help from an outside source.

"Yeah, a-and it works too. You know, I figured in the, grand scheme of things, we're all..." Willow explained while grabbing her coat and pulling it off the stool. There was a clink clatter of glass against the concrete floor as an open beer bottle fell and rested while foamy liquid poured out of it. Everyone looked down at it before Buffy looked up at Willow flatly while Tobias knew that he was right about Willow's shaking off of the pain.

"Drunk?" The blonde asked.

"Pfft, drunk," Willow slurred slightly as she bent down and picked up her bottle. "That's such a, a strong word. Kinda a, guttural, Anglo-Saxon word, drunk."

"Will, not loving the drowning of the sorrows." Xander spoke up.

"I have to agree with him, and that's rare with anything Xander says." Tobias nodded.

"Not drowning. Wading. See? Light." She held up the bottle to show the label of the beer. "No big."

"No big? Anyone remember when Buffy had the fun beer fest and went 1 million years BC?" Buffy asked the group.

"Sadly without the fuzzy bikini." Xander thought out loud. Tobias smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Not the point Xander."

"Right, helping now." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Will, how about you give me that beer?" He asked, getting up from his stool to approach her.

"No." She held the beer bottle like it was her own child. "Why should I? I-I've got pain here, big-time, legitimate pain."

"We all have pain, Will."

"Oh, like what?" She scoffed. "'Oh, poor me, I live in a basement.' Yeah, that's dire."

Xander looked incredulously at his childhood friend who just looked back in drunken defiance. Finally, he backed away, shaking his head.

"Ok, I think it's time for you to get home." Tobias got up from his stool.

Buffy did the same. "I agree, come on." She grabbed the coat and Willow's arm, pulling her away from the table as Tobias took her other arm.

"No, I don't wanna." She said childishly, pulling her arms out of their grasps.

"Will, you'll thank us when you still have a friend in the morning."

The witch seemed to collapse into herself as she looked at them both with pain stricken, drunk eyes. "I just can't feeling this way. I want it to be over."

"And it will," Tobias said slowly. "We promise, but it's going to take time."

"Well, that's not good enough!" She pouted.

"I know. But that's how it is." Buffy shrugged helplessly. "You have to go through the pain."

"Well, isn't there some way to make it go away, just cause I say so? C-can't I just make it go poof?"

"Willow, we can't just make things happen because we want them to be better." Tobias explained. "That's not the way the world works, how people work. We can't just...make them go poof with a word." He gently put a hand on her shoulder and she didn't shrug it off. "Now come on. Let's get you home so you sleep this off."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was the middle of the night and everyone except Willow was asleep. Two reasons for that, one being the headache that had come with the inevitable hangover from, drinking too much. She made a mental note to stay away from drinking that much again, because nothing good came from it.

The other thing keeping her awake was the dull beating of her heart, which only reminded her how it had been ripped in half and now half of it was gone. It wasn't fair. She'd been hurting over Oz's departure for a long time, but she'd been keeping it bottled up so her friends didn't worry. It'd helped when Tobias had offered to be an ear to listen, and then a shoulder to cry on when she'd needed it. Him mentioning he had a girlfriend after had made her both mortified that he even thought she would do something like that and then amused when it was clear he was just trying to cheer her up. Since then she had been able to go longer with fewer trips to Oz's room, which she only did to feel closer to him. It had been slow, but she knew she'd been healing.

Now, all that progress was down the drain as it became clear Oz wasn't coming back soon, if ever. Her insides had been scooped out and left her hollow. Why couldn't the feeling just go away? She didn't want to feel like this anymore.

_"That's not the way the world works, how people work. We can't just...make them go poof with a word."_

Willow sat up in bed as an idea occurred to her. Tobias was wrong, there was a way to make her feelings go poof with a word. There was a spell she'd read about, one that could be the solution for all her problems. She silently slid out of bed, keeping one eye on Buffy a few feet away, and went to the foot of her bed where a chest was. Buffy had a weapons chest, but she had what she called her "witchy chest", where she kept all of her spell books and tools for casting spells. She unlatched it and opened it, showing books and ingredients for spells just like she'd left it. She shifted a few items until she found the book she was looking for. Opening it to the page she had in mind, she scanned the list of things she'd need and the ritual that would be require for her to cast the spell.

She grabbed a handful of candles, some powders and metal plates to put them in, a wooden plate carved with symbols, and a long handled cup before slipping out of her room and into the girls bathroom. She got to work, arranging the candles in a large circle and lightning them, then setting down the powders she had in the metal plates. Finally, she sat down in the middle of the circle and set the wooden plate in front of her and the cup beside her. She then began the ritual.

"Harken all ye elements, I summon thee now." She chanted, dropping some of the items into the plate in front of her. "Control the outside, control within. Land and sea, fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth," she lifted the cup and prepared to pour its contents. "My will be done. So mote it be." The chant completed, she poured the liquid.

There was a loud snap as electricity raced outwards and the candles flames flared high and bright. Lightning and thunder boomed loudly before a white light filled the bathroom, Willow at the center of it all as the spell bent the fabric of the world and bestowed upon her the ability to change it.

**A/N: So, I know I skipped things in this chapter but it's because I had no intention of changing those things, and if you're reading this story then it means you probably already know what happened there. So, next chapter, Willow starts trying to use her so I will it spell properly. Needless to say, that's not going to happen, but it'll be fun to read. Now all I need is to figure out what she accidentally does to my OC. If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in a review.**


	9. Something Blue part 2

"It is my will, that my heart be healed."

Nothing. She didn't feel better, or lighter, or anything. Just same old Willow, holding a mirror as her reflection stared back at her.

"Now." She added. Still nothing, she set down the mirror and lifted up the open book before her. "I will that this book, speak its words to me." Another failure. She finally picked up a bent Q-tip and said meekly, "I will that this Q-tip gets...unbendy?"

Now it seemed like the world was just mocking her as the inanimate object didn't move an inch. She thought she'd cast the spell right. I mean, all the weird, magicy things had happened but when it had all settled down, she hadn't felt any different. Now that she was alone with Buffy out, she was trying to get her spell to work by saying she willed stuff to happen. But nothing had worked.

The door knocked and Willow said in a depressed tone, "Come in."

It opened and Giles stepped in, coat over his arm and looking slightly concerned.

"Giles," Willow straightened. "What are you doing here?"

"U-um, a bit concerned about you actually." He said as he closed the door.

Willow winced slightly. She didn't like getting a lecture from the older Watcher. "Did Buffy tell you about the beer? Because-"

"Uh, Buffy didn't tell me anything."

"Oh. Well, forget the beer part then."

"Happily. Um, I came because we had an appointment the other day."

Willow was confused for a second. Appointment? What appointment did they...?

"Oh. Oh right, the truth spell." She winced. Between getting her heart ripped out and then getting drunk, she'd sort of forgotten.

"Yes. Um," Giles tried to figure out the best way to proceed as he sat down on her bed. "Willow. I know that you're, going through a very difficult time. But shirking your responsibilities..."

"But I didn't! Shirk, I," she got up and grabbed her bag. "I did the research, and I-I, I picked up the mother wart." She took out a brown paper bag that she had gotten yesterday at the local magic shop, showing it to him. He took it as Willow said, "I just, forgot the doing the spell part."

"Well, that isn't like you, at all."

"I-I know." She said guiltily. "I've been off. I-I even tried to do a spell last night. To have my will done. I was hoping it would make me feel better.' She explained as Giles got up, looking alarmed. "But it just went Kablooey."

"A spell?" She nodded. "I don't think it's wise for you to be doing that alone right now, your energy is too unfocused."

"W-well that's not true," Willow defended herself, shifting on her feet. She felt like she was a child being scolded for doing something wrong. "I said I was off, not...incompetent."

Giles sighed and backtracked. "I only meant that you're grieving, a-and it might be wise if you took a break from doing spells without supervision."

"So I get punished because I'm in pain?" She asked, amazed that Giles was telling her this. She just wanted her heartache to go away, why couldn't everyone just see that?"

"It's not punishment, I'm only saying this because..."

"Oh you care." She snorted. "Yeah, everybody cares, but nobody wants to be inconvenienced. You all want me to, take the time and go through the pain, as long as you don't have to hear about it anymore."

"Now that's not fair."

"Isn't it? Because I'm doing the best I can, a-and it doesn't seem to be enough for you guys."

"And I see how you feel that way," Giles said patiently. "I do, but..."

"No you don't!" She was getting tired of this. People didn't know what she was going through, why did they keep saying that they did!? "You say that you do, but you don't see anything!"

Neither the witch nor the Watcher noticed how Willow's eyes briefly turned grey and there was a subtle _whoosh_ before they went back to normal. Giles did however, notice when his eyes started hurting slightly and took off his glasses, rubbing them.

"Um...oh, sorry," he felt slightly dizzy for a moment. He blinked a few times, but things seemed fuzzier than they normally were when he took of his glasses. "Um, p-perhaps I better be going. It's um...let's talk about this later."

Willow didn't give him a response as she strode back to her bed and sat down as he walked out. Giles was pondering that feeling he had gotten before he accidentally ran into one of the people in the hallway.

"Oh, sorry. So sorry." He apologized before slipping his glasses back on. He hadn't seen that person at all, and even with his glasses back, things were still out of focus. He figured he was just overworked and headed back home, intent on casting the truth spell and finding out what Spike knew.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

So, today had been a completely dull day. Tobias had just gone through his morning routine and had been left with hours of free time, but he had nothing to do. He went for a walk around town, but nothing had been worth seeing. He'd swung by Giles place while he was preparing the truth spell for Spike, so he's gotten out of his hair so he could focus. He did notice Giles seemed to be blinking a lot and miss judging distance, but he figured that was the pressure of doing the spell and having to deal with the blonde vampire that had been chained in his bathtub. That would've driven anyone insane, or at least worn them out.

Library had been a snooze fest. Normally he liked reading, but all the books he was interested in either hadn't been published or were checked out, and what he did find was lacking in the normal spark a good book had. Nothing had caught his attention to draw and he'd already drawn everything from back home that he'd wanted to.

He ended up spending the entire day at home, flicking through channels on the TV or getting more familiar with his astral body, but one could only take so much before even the thrill of walking through walls or teleporting anywhere wore off. Plus Joyce had gotten worried with him being locked in his room, or rather his physical body being locked up in his room while he was off doing...whatever.

Now Joyce was out catching up on some late work and he was floating cross legged in the living room, staring at a chess board whose pieces were moving without him touching it and also floating eye level with him. With the curtains drawn, of course.

"I'd forgotten how boring domestic life can get." He grumbled as one of black's Knights took a rook and sealed checkmate against white's King. That brought the score to 7 wins for black, 5 for white.

The door knocked and shattered his concentration, causing the chessboard to fall to the ground and scattering everywhere. Muttering a quick curse, he waved his hand and the pieces lifted and settled on the table while he picked up the wooden slab and set it next to them. He answered the door and blinked at the person standing on the doorstep, looking slightly uncomfortable and fidgeting with her coat sleeves.

"Hey Willow. Something wrong?"

"Um, no. Not really. Can I..."

"Oh, sure, please, come in." He hurriedly invited her.

"Thanks."

"What brings you by? I thought you'd be with Giles doing that truth spell with Spike by now."

"No, Buffy is out hunting for him right now."

"Wait a minute, Spike got free? How did that happen?" Tobias asked as they settled down on the couch in the living room.

"I don't know." She shrugged, seemingly not caring. "But, clearly a harmless vampire is more important than her best friend."

"Sensing a resentful, not Willow-y vibe here." Tobias said after a few seconds, thinking he was hanging out with Buffy too much if he was using words like "Willow-y." And Xander, if he was talking about vibes.

"Sorry, it's my stuff." She said.

"Which is probably why you're here, soooo...talk to me." He prompted. "What's got you down?"

Willow sighed. "Giles. He came by earlier and, I told him that I was trying a so I will it spell, and when he found out he said I shouldn't be doing magic with my 'energy being too unfocused'."

"A 'so I will it spell?'" That didn't sound good if it did what he was thinking it did.

"Well, I just wanted this to...go away. But instead, my spell just flopped." He chuckled humorlessly. "Just like all my other bad spells."

"Hey, you don't have bad spells. You knocked me out when I first arrived here, which by the way was very annoying at the time." He joked.

"Yeah, but still. That was one good spell out a bunch of bad ones." She grumbled. "And Buffy wouldn't even stay to talk, not once Giles called and said that Mr. Tall, blonde and harmless escaped."

"Will, she can't just let him get away."

"Yeah, I know, I know, Spike is more important than me." She got up and started pacing angrily.

"You know that's not true. I may not know Buffy as well as you or the rest do, but she puts your guy's safety above everything else. But until we can figure out what's up with those commandos, she needs Spike."

She snorted. "Well fine, why doesn't she just marry him?"

Tobias winced and put a hand to his head. He'd just gotten a minor sting that was already fading, but the fact that it had come out of nowhere was weird.

"It's just not fair." She whined, sitting down again.

'Right, focus on unexplainable pain later, focus on helping depressed friend now.' Tobias told himself. "Willow, it's hard to see now, but everything you're feeling right now is because of you and Oz. Not because of Buffy, Spike, Xander, anybody. But I promise you that eventually you'll meet somebody else and it'll be better."

"Yeah, because most relationships are great and trouble free," she shook her head, sounding pessimistic. "I don't think so. I think we're all just doomed to badness."

"Nobody is doomed to anything, Willow."

"Oh yeah. Let's look at Xander's bio. He's dated an insect lady, mummy girl, _Anya_. He's a demon magnet." She said, looking away.

The teen winced again as that sting came back. 'What the hell is going on?' "Willow, we're trying to help you, you don't have to tear off our heads."

"Oh, sure, you're trying to help." Willow said angrily as she looked at him. He was getting tired of these grieving mood swings. "The only times you seem to be around is when we need help killing something, o-or when you need something. Like that thing with ghostly you."

"That is not true, and you know it Willow." Tobias snapped. "I'm trying to help you, but if you're just going to attack me for things that aren't true, then I'm going to ask you to please leave until you calm down."

"Fine." She got up and was about to leave when she stopped and looked at him. "You know, since you seemed to like that stupid astral form or whatever it was, why don't you just stay in that all the time?" She then opened the door and slammed it on her way out.

Tobias sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Female anger is going to be the death of me, I just know it."

Suddenly he felt dizzy and lost his balance, forcing him to sit down on the couch until he got it back, eyes closed and breathing deeply. After a few seconds, the sensation receded and he was able to open his eyes without the room spinning.

"Oh, that was weird." He stood up took a look at the chess pieces and board. He stilled needed to put those away, so with that in mind, he reached out to flip over the board. Only for both his hands to go through the table. He jerked his hands back and stared at them. "What the..."

Then he glanced over his shoulder and saw...him, on the couch, eyes closed. Slightly panicking, he tried to touch his body to go back in but he just slipped through it. No matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't go back into his real body. He quickly focused on making a layer of air around his hand and lifted his own eyelids, showing glowing eyes. As he closed them, he could only think one thing.

"Crap."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

A few minutes later, he'd managed to get his body upstairs and on the bed until it looked like he was sleeping. He'd had to use his powers to manipulate his body like a puppet (which had been all kinds of creepy and wrong) and then jotted out a quick note for Joyce to see when she got home, saying he had been feeling tired and went to bed early, as well as to not be disturbed. That done, he teleported to Giles house, or more specifically, outside it. He might be in trouble, being stuck in astral projection form, but he still had his manners. With that in mind, he focused his powers to make a solid, movable skin around him, and knocked.

"Come in!" Buffy's voice called. Tobias opened the door and stepped through.

"Hey, Buffy, I think we've got..." He stopped when he saw something that did...not...compute.

Buffy and Spike, who was for some reason _not_ chained up, were sitting in one of Giles's arm chairs. But the thing that had made him pause was the fact that Buffy was sitting in Spike's lap while he had an arm around her. She also didn't look the least bit uncomfortable.

"We have a...what?" Buffy asked.

"Why is Spike currently unchained and why are you sitting in his lap? And," he looked around as he closed the door. "Where's Giles?"

"Here." Giles's arm lifted from the couch.

"As for me and Spike," Buffy smiled giddily. Tobias had to blink to make sure he was seeing this right. Buffy, smiling like a schoolgirl, and it looked legitimate. "Well..."

"Oh, go ahead tell him. We're going to have to tell them eventually." Spike nudged her with a small smirk.

Buffy's smile, as impossible as it seemed, widened and her eyes danced with joy. "We're getting married!"

It took a few seconds for that sentence to get through his brain. One second for every word, and then another handful to understand what they meant. Tobias took a breath, then lifted a finger.

"Excuse me for a second." He took a step outside. A quick look didn't reveal flames falling from the sky or brimstone erupting from the earth or demons running rampant through the streets. So the world was not ending, however unlikely that seemed considering what he'd just heard.

He walked back in. "Sorry about that, I needed a moment. Um, Giles. Can I get an explanation please?" He said as he approached the couch. "Why do you have a towel over your eyes?"

"Um, yes, well, in that order, I'm afraid it's rather unclear to me as well, but I suspect a spell. As for me..."

"Oh, he's blind." Buffy told him. "We think that's due to a spell."

"Blind?" Tobias lifted the towel and looked at Giles's eyes, waving a hand in front of them. They just stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Will you please stop doing whatever you're doing and give me back the towel?"

"Sorry, here." Tobias put the towel back and then took a closer look around the room. Because of that, he noticed that there were a bunch of papers and books, plus Buffy was holding a small statue, the kind that went on top of wedding cakes. Two blondes, one in a tux and the other in a wedding dress. Buffy noticed Tobias's line of sight.

"Oh, for the wedding cake." She explained before lifting up for Spike to see, gazing fondly at them. "Aren't they a perfect little us?"

"I don't like him." Spike disagreed. "He's insipid, clearly human."

Buffy thought for a second "Oh, red paint. We can smear a little on the mouth. The blood of the innocent." She smirked seductively.

"That's my girl." Spike had an excited smile on his face before he grabbed the back of her head and pulled Buffy into a kiss that she returned happily. If it wasn't for the fact that his astral body didn't have a stomach, Tobias would've thrown up from the sheer passion that those two were actually putting into the kiss, not to mention the smacking of said lips. As it was, he simply felt ill and gagged.

"Stop that, right now! I can hear the smacking!" Giles said angrily as he sat up partially on the couch.

"Hhmm." Buffy moaned as the kiss ended. "Honey, we need to talk about the invitations," she said, taking one of the books on the table. "Now, do you want to be 'William the Bloody' or just 'Spike'? Cause... either way, it's going to look majorly weird."

"Whereas the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of classic elegance." He snipped back, arms around her waist.

She closed the book and gave him her full attention. "What's wrong with Buffy?"

"Huh ... such a good question." Giles snorted as he lay back down.

"Ok, can just stop talking weddings for a second, because I didn't come over here to...see...this." Tobias said, jerkily gesturing at the scene that just so wrong. "Something is wrong here, and it's not just Giles's blindness."

"What is it?" Buffy asked as Giles sat up.

"Um...hey Giles, you remember when I came to you about astral projection a few days ago?" Tobias asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yes, and I seem to remember you running out of home with some idea that could apparently work, what about it?"

"Uh...well...ok, you know what, Buffy, tell him what it is you see right now." And to prove his point, Tobias lifted his hand stuck through the top of Giles head.

"What, what's he doing?" Giles asked urgently when he heard Buffy gasp.

"He's got his hand through the top of your head." Spike so eloquently said.

"Yeah. I succeeded in astral projecting," Tobias explained, taking his hand out of the Watchers head. "Only problem is I'm kinda...stuck in my astral body."

"Y-you managed to achieve astral projection? How, you've only been at it for a few days, it takes...years to properly do it." Giles said, sitting up and looking two feet to the right of Tobias.

"I...cheated? Look, that's not the point, the point is, I wasn't even trying to do this. One minute I'm in my body, then I got dizzy and took a seat. The next thing I know, I'm standing up and my body is still sitting down, and I can't go back in it. I tried several times, but all that happened was this." He waved his hand through Giles's head several times to get his point across. If it wasn't for the fact that this was serious, it would've been amusing to see Buffy and Spike's eyes follow his limb as it passed through the blind Watcher, like cats following a piece of string.

The front door banged open, making everyone jump as Anya and Xander came running through.

"Board up the windows, and barricade the doors!" Xander yelled as he and Anya moved the coat rack in front of the door.

"What's going on?" Giles asked as Buffy and Spike stood up, holding hands.

"Demons. They keep coming and coming." Anya explained.

"I think we lost them but-" Xander stopped. "Spike! He's all untied!" He then noticed the looks he was getting. "Which you, probably noticed."

"Yeah, Xander, we noticed," Tobias sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Look, calm down, if you lost them, then that'll give us some time. Maybe the demons have something to do with Giles being blind and Tobias stuck."

"Giles is blind?" Anya asked. Xander reached out a hand and wiggled his pointer and index finger before Giles's eyes.

"Stop, whatever you're doing. Y-you smell like fruit roll ups."

"This is the crack team that foils my every plan? I am deeply ashamed." Spike looked over them all.

"Shut up, Spike. Ok, we-we need to get organized." Tobias sighed again, then noticed Anya staring at him. "What?"

"Something about you seems...off."

"Oh, right. Wait, you noticed that?" Tobias had never seen anyone even comment on him being in astral form until he had showed them.

"Yeah, like you're here but not really here."

"Anya, he's standing right there." Xander said.

"No, she's right. Here, Xander, high five me." Tobias held out his right hand. Raising an eyebrow, Xander tried to do so, only for his hand to gorging through.

"Holy crap!" Xander jerked his hand back. "Are you dead?"

"No, I'm not dead! I'm just...not fully here like Anya said. I'm, stuck in my astral projection body."

"Oh, that's what it is. Wow, I haven't seen that for over two hundred years." Anya nodded. She then noticed Spike and Buffy. "Why are you holding hands?"

Buffy and Spike looked at each other. "They have to hear it sooner or later." The latter said with a grin.

"Spike and I are getting married!" She said happily, hugging him close.

"How? What? How?" Xander said jarringly, looking at Giles and Tobias. Even Anya looked stunned.

"Three excellent questions." Giles said, standing up and his hands moving to feel objects around him.

"What are you looking at?" Spike growled lowly.

Buffy ran her hands slowly down his chest. "The man I love." She said before they kissed.

"Oh," Xander looked away while Anya held up a hand. "Can I be blind too?"

Tobias then had an epiphany. "Demons!"

"What?! Where?!" Xander said, looking around in a panic.

"No, not here, and shut up, trying to think." Tobias snapped his fingers while pacing, ignoring the fact he was walking through Giles to do so. "Oh, what was it? Demons, marriage, something I heard. But what was it? Think, think, think." 'When did I start talking like my stepfather?' He thought to himself. He snapped his fingers one last time. "Willow!"

"Hhmm, what about-hhmm, Willow? Honey, get off." She told Spike as she gave Tobias her attention, ending the kiss.

"Willow, she came over to your house to talk. We did, but then she kept getting anger and depressed with those mood swings she's going through, which by the way, I'm tired of."

"Well, I'm think we're all tired of it, but what does it have to do with what's going on?"

"She said that Xander was a demon magnet," Tobias pointed at him. "And that you two should get married," he pointed at the engaged couple. "And that I should stay in my astral form."

"And that I didn't see anything." Giles lifted a finger, getting where Tobias was going.

"She did a spell." Buffy said.

"Yes, to have her will done. Whatever she says is coming true."

"And you were all affected! I probably only escaped because I'm the Slayer," Buffy said, looking at Spike. "Some kind of natural immunity."

"Yeah, you're marrying Spike because you're so right for each other." Xander said sarcastically.

"Xander." Buffy said in disbelief.

"That's it. You're off the usher list." Spike told him before comforting Buffy.

"Ok, can we get back to the important thing please?" Tobias said. "Willow thinks her spell failed, she doesn't realize that it actually worked. We need to find her before someone gets really hurt."

Giles nodded before trying to take a step forward and falling over when his couch caused him to lose his balance.

"Yeah, like that." Tobias nodded at the Watcher. "I'll go right over to her dorm room, the rest of you just get over there as fast as you can."

"Well how are you-" Xander's question was cut off when Tobias just...vanished. Everyone blinked (except Giles) while Anya nodded.

"I'd forgotten how annoying teleporting astral spirits can be."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Willow walked down the hallway to her dorm room, feeling lousy. The entire day had just been one big disaster after another. First her spell didn't work right, then she yelled at Giles, got upset when Buffy had to leave to track down Spike, and then she said things she now regretted to Tobias. It wasn't anyone's fault that she was feeling this way, but it was only after she'd been a bad friend that she saw it. Maybe she should follow Giles's advice and stay away from magic for the time being, until she felt better. She also owed everyone an apology for her behavior lately.

She got to her dorm room and opened it, walking into the darker space and closing the door behind her.

"Willow!"

She jumped when Tobias just...appeared in front of her. One second he wasn't there, the next he was right in front of her.

"Tobias?"

Things happened quickly after that. Tobias opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then his eyes flicked over her right shoulder and widened. Two cold hands, with claws scraping her scalp, pressed against her ears and energy surged through her, hot and painful like she'd been hooked up to jumper cables. She faintly heard "Will!" being shouted faintly over the crackle and buzz of energy in her ears and saw Tobias reaching out to grab her, then a flash and everything went dark.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tobias coughed, feeling like his lungs were full of smoke, which made no sense because he was disembodied spirit at the moment. He didn't _need_ to breath. Otherwise, he was trying to get an idea on where the hell he was.

Wherever it was, his first impression was dark. He only saw a void as far as the eye could see, and his powers sensed just that. A blankness where nothing, not even air was present, except in a sphere around him and... Ten others? Eight in a circle, one right beside him, and one in front.

"Ah, you're awake." A smooth, modern voice said. Suddenly the blackness receded, showing what he'd sensed. Behind was three figures in brown robes, hoods hiding their faces but he could see brown and wrinkled skin that was clearly not human. Willow was directly next to him and it looked like she was just starting to get her bearings as well before her eyes locked on the figure in front of them. The one Tobias had seen move behind Willow before they had been transported...wherever they were

He was a few inches taller than he was, and had graying skin that resembled the color of stone. His head was shaved with four hours, two on either side, sticking out of the back of his head. His eyes were black as pitch and his mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth, standing out from a beard that was tied at the end. His clothes were a black robe, his hands with fingernails sticking out two inches from his fingers.

"Hello." Tobias figured he might as well get the ball rolling. "I'm Tobias Song, this my friend Willow Rosenberg." He jerked his head at Willow. He would've like to put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but he was still an insubstantial spirit at the moment. "And you are?"

"My name is D'Hoffryn." The demon said, bowing his head politely.

"Pleasure," Tobias bowed his head in return. "But can I please inquire why you kidnapped my friend?"

"I did not 'kidnap her', as you put it. I simply brought her here to make her an offer," he turned his attention to Willow. "You have much anger and pain. Your magic is strong, but your pain...it's like a scream that pierces dimensional walls. We heard your call."

"I-I'm sorry." Willow said in a high tone. "I-I'll try for a quiet rage."

"Our intention is not to quash a potential. Quite the contrary."

"Excuse me," Tobias raised his hand so Willow didn't die of fear. "Sorry to interrupt, but a potential what? Also, what kind of demon are you?"

D'Hoffryn looked at Tobias like he was an interesting specimen that had never been seen before. "I, to answer your question, am a vengeance demon. I believe you know one of my former girls, Anyanka."

"Anya." Tobias guessed. "And you want to make Willow a vengeance demon."

"Indeed. The pain and suffering she has brought upon those she loves has been inspired. She is ready to join us here in Arashmaharr."

"Pain? What pain?" Willow looked between the two of them.

D'Hoffryn put his hands together and lifted them, while a mist expanded like a scroll between them. Blurred, but still recognizable pictures formed in it. It showed Buffy being held up by her throat by a demon, Anya and Xander trying to fight one back on their own.

"Oh god. B-but I didn't mean to!"

"But you did," the demon said dispassionately. "This is the result of your power. You will make a fine vengeance demon."

"Try it," Tobias growled. "And the last thing you'll see is me ripping out your heart D'Hoffryn."

Letting the magical window collapse, the demon apprised Tobias with a new eye.

"You have much anger and pain as well. Your power is unusual, unlike anything I've seen before, but it is potent. I see much potential in you. After all, you have already caused much suffering and pain."

Tobias clenched his fists and reigned in his anger. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions rule him, he had to keep a level head. Ignoring Willow's look of confusion, he firmly stated, "I'm not that person anymore. The only thing I would want vengeance on is those who made me what I was, but I refuse to stoop to their level to get it. I won't become the thing I hate, not again."

"A pity, but no matter. She is my interest in this matter." D'Hoffryn said, looking back towards the witch.

"Really, n-no offense intended, but- I mean, you've been super nice and everything, but I don't want to be a demon," Willow said through shaky breaths as D'Hoffryn watched her steadily. "I-I just want to go back and help my friends."

"That is your answer?"

"I-it is."

"I'm sorry to hear that," D'Hoffryn said threateningly. Tobias braced himself for an attack and... "Oh well." He finished with a sigh, like he wasn't able to get something he wanted. He took out a small pendant and held it up. "Here is my talisman. You change your mind, give us a chant." He told Willow as she took it.

"Wait, what?" Tobias was completely thrown by this turn of events and could only watch as the demon waved his hand and his vision faded back to black. It cleared a few seconds later, revealing that he and Willow were now standing on top of a stone coffin in a crypt, the same crypt that the others were in. Anya and Xander were still trying to fight off their demon while Buffy was straddling Spike and they were kissing. Again.

'Oh, get a room!' Tobias thought in his head. When your friends were fighting for sir lives, you do not stop for a make out session. Out loud, he said "Willow, spell, time to break it!"

She nodded quickly and then chanted firmly. "Let the healing power begin! Let my will be safe again! As these peaceful words are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken!"

A bright white flash flooded the room and when it cleared, the demon Anya and Xander had been fighting was gone. Tobias noticed he felt a million pounds heavier and quickly touched the nearby wall. He felt the cold stone under his fingers, relieved to find he was back in his real body.

But the most amusing reactions were Spike and Buffy. Both blondes stopped kissing and pulled back, staring at each other blankly for a second as they tried to process the situation. Then both eyes widened and Spike yelled, "OH, BLOODY HELL!" Buffy shot off him and the vampire got off the ground, spitting as he did and wiping his mouth.

"Ugh, Spike lips! Lips of Spike!" Buffy groaned as she tried to do the same thing. A few seconds later they calmed down but both still looked absolutely disgusted. Then all eyes slowly went to Willow, who hadn't moved an inch.

She waved weakly. "Hi guys."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"How long are you going to keep making these?" Anya asked Willow as she pulled a sheet tray of chocolate chip cookies from the oven.

"Oh, until I don't feel so horribly guilty," she said, using a spatula to move the cookies from the sheet to a plate that was already piled high with other she had made. "I figure about a million chips from now. Also I have to detail Giles's car."

"Time!" Xander asked, showing Giles a small clock from several feet away.

"Five past two. Clear as day." Giles said before glancing at his watch.

"Look! Cookies! Very, not evil thing I did. Oatmeal?" Willow asked, offering the plate to Giles.

He took off his glasses and gave her a look. "Yes, very funny. They're chocolate chip, I can see them." He said, taking one of them. "Still need my glasses through. You couldn't have been more specific and given me 20/20? "He asked as Willow went to Tobias and Buffy sitting on the stools at the counter. Buffy was keeping an eye on Spike, who was tied to a chair but his arms were free, and Tobias was sketching what D'Hoffryn looked like. Hey, he was bored and it was something to do, give him a break.

"Eat a cookie, ease my pain." Willow said, offering the plate to them.

They both took one and took a bite.

"Better?" Tobias asked after swallowing his mouthful.

She nodded. "Well, baking lifts about 30% of my guilt, but only 7% of my inner turmoil. Guess that'll just take a while."

"It'll happen." Buffy reassured her, getting a small smile in return.

Spike seemed to want something, but it took a minute for his pride to bend enough to ask, "Don't I get a cookie?"

"No!" Buffy said flatly.

"Well, I've got to have something. I've still have _Buffy _taste in my mouth." He grumbled.

"You're a pig Spike."

"Seconded." Tobias raised the hand that still held his cookie while he kept his eye on the sketch pad.

"Well, I'm not the one who wanted 'Wind Beneath my Wings' for the first dance." Spike said, making sure his voice carried. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the blonde slayer.

"That was the spell." Buffy said, eyes shifting as she got up and walked away while Willow stuffed a cookie into Spike's mouth to quiet him. As he ate it slowly, Willow went around the corner where Buffy stood with her arms crossed.

"Did I mention about the 'sorry' part?"

"We may be into a forgetting spell later." Buffy told her. "I loved him. We were betrothed." She said. She remembered what she had done under the spell and it embarrassed her to no end. How had she fallen for _Spike _of all people?

"W-well at least you were getting along."

"But we weren't. You know it wasn't even _nice._ And the bad boy thing, over it." She flicked her hair out of her face. "Ok, I totally get it. I'd be really happy to be in a, nice relationship with a decent, reliabil-llly, oh my god, Riley thinks I'm engaged!" Buffy said in a panic as that particular memory was just hitting her.

"What?"

"Riley! H-h-he saw me! What the hell am I going to say to him!?"

"Why don't you tell him you were under a spell?" Tobias called from his spot. "I'm sure that'll clear things right up." He smirked.

He knew he was going to pay for that, but it was just too good a chance to pass up. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

**A/N: Ok, I'm cutting off right here. I know it's sudden, but nothing past this point is of any interest to me and I want to get to the good stuff.**

**Up next is Hush everyone, and I'm making some big changes! I've been looking forward to this because now I get to introduce two characters that have been missing up until now, and I know just how I'm slipping them in. Plus the next few chapters will have Tobias's secrets being revealed one at a time to everyone else. I won't give you any spoilers, but I can give you a hint. His sketchbook. That's all you're getting until next time.**


	10. Hush Part 1

"So this is what it is. Talking about communication. Talking about language, not the same thing." Buffy and Willow took notes as they listen to what her psychology teacher Maggie Walsh was saying as she paced in front of the classroom. The woman was a bit taller than Buffy, had dirty blonde hair that was cut and curled above her ears, and carried herself with the gait that spoke about experience in what she was lecturing about today.

The Slayer let her eyes wander to Riley, who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed as Professor Walsh spoke before she looked back.

"It's about inspiration. Not the idea, but the moment before the idea when it's total. When it, blossoms in your mind and connects to everything. It's about the thoughts and experiences, that we don't have a word for. A demonstration." Maggie looked at the assembled students and pointed at Buffy. "Buffy, Summers. Come down to the front here."

Buffy was startled that she was picked, but got out of her desk and went to the front of the class like she was asked, standing next to her teacher.

"A difficult college girl, one assumes. Lie down on my desk."

Buffy blinked. Ok, it was one thing to be called down to the front of the classroom, it was another to lie down on the teacher's desk during it.

"W-what?"

"Go ahead, you're perfectly safe." Maggie reassured her.

Still feeling a bit shy, Buffy did as she was told, climbing onto the desk before lying flat on her back.

"Reilly, if you could oblige."

Pushing off the wall, the man grimaced slightly as he approached the desk. "A demonstration, right?"

"Be a good boy." Maggie told him.

'Am I dreaming?' Buffy thought for a second as she watched him approach. He stopped beside her and she took a moment to take in his nervous, handsome face. He hesitantly put a hand on her right side, above her waist. She felt shivers run through her body as he touched her.

"This feels very strange." She said with a slight smile, eyes flicking to the rest of the class.

"Don't worry," he told her. "If I kiss you, it'll make the sun go down."

Buffy blinked, wondering what that meant before he started leaning in and she couldn't help but lean in to meet him halfway. Then their lips connected and she felt fireworks. Nothing else mattered except him, this moment, and the feel of his lips against hers. The light dimmed drastically behind her closed eyelids. When the kiss ended and she open them, it was night now. She sat up and looked to see everyone except her and Reily were gone, the room deserted.

"See?"

Buffy smiles slightly. "Fortune favors the brave." She turned her head towards the door that led to the hallway as she heard faint singing. It sounded like a little girl. She slid off the desk. "Do you hear that?" She didn't get a response as she left the classroom and wander the halls, looking for the source of the singing. As she walked, she started being able to make out the lyrics.

"Can't even shout, can't even cry, The Gentlemen are coming by." The song went. Buffy turned the corner and saw the little girl standing at the end of the hall. She was in a red dress and had long blonde hair. It was her, when she was around ten or so. Little her was holding a box in her hands, a cube that was four inches on every side and had black lines making triangular shapes on it.

"Looking in windows, knocking on doors, they need to take seven and they might take yours." The girl sang pleasantly as shadows started creeping from corners and gathering, obscuring her in darkness. She didn't notice. "Can't call to mom, can't say a word, you're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard." She finished as the darkness became absolute. Buffy watched it for a few seconds before hearing two footsteps from the dark into the light.

Both were women, but they were stunning. The one on the right was taller than her, black hair falling from her head to her back in long, silky strands. Her skin was as dark as milk chocolate and she was as thin as a model, but her limbs were covered in lean muscle that only seemed to add to her beauty. Her angelic face was offset by two light violet orbs that were staring at her with an intensity that was unnerving. Buffy also noticed she had a curved dagger in her hand that she didn't look afraid to use. As for her clothes, she was wearing a plain black shirt and jeans. She painted a picture that men would look at and pursue with mindless drive.

The other woman was day to the firsts night, but no less beautiful. She had black hair that fell to her shoulders and framed her face with bangs on either side. Her eyes were a darker shade of purple then the other woman's, but her eyes were no less intense than the first, possibly even more so. Her body had curves that would drive most men insane with lust, only made more desirable by the dark purple shirt and blue jeans that hugged her body closely. Her chest was bigger then what Buffy considered natural, but it seemed to suit her. She didn't have a weapon, but there was a white substance swirling in the palms of both her hands.

The one other thing they both had in common was that they had an aura of power and intent that sent her skull tingling, and the intent that was being fired from their eyes gave her the instinctive feeling that nothing would stop them from achieving their goal.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Reily. She turned around and instead of Reily, she saw a creature with a bald head, doll like eyes, and a wide unnatural smile that sent a shock through her.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Buffy jerked away, heard coming off her left hand, and heard Professor Walsh saying "so I'll see you all on Monday for a final review session."

The class was over. She'd been right, it had been a dream, but this was clearly not a normal dream. As the Slayer, she sometimes got prophetic dreams, vivid and powerful that mixed things to come with things from her life currently taking place around her.

"Man that was an exciting class huh?" Willow asked her as she packed up her books.

"Oh yeah, wow." Buffy smiled, trying to pretend she hadn't been sleeping.

"Uh, and the last twenty minutes was a revelation, just laid out everything we need to know for the final. I'd hate to have missed that."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Just tell me I didn't snort."

Willow smiled playfully. "Very discreet, minimal drooling."

"Oh, yay." Buffy said as they walked towards the door.

"So were you dreaming?"

"Yeah, and it was kinda intense." Buffy still heard that creepy nursery rhyme that small her had been singing, plus see those two woman.

"Intense, really?" They both looked behind them to see Reily had snuck up behind them. "Because you seemed so peaceful."

Willow smiled slightly while Buffy said, "Of course, it was only for a moment."

"Right. Hey, you guys heading over towards Judd?"

"Uh, student center."

"Oh, great. So, this dream?"

"You know, you guys go, I'm going to go...do the thing. So I'll see you after Wicca group."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye." Reily gave a small wave and the two walked off. Willow watched them go then quickly moved towards one of the arches that opened the hallway they have to take as Reily kept going. "So, tell me about your dream. As a psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hhmm'."

"I don't really remember it."

"Well... Did I appear at all in this dream?"

"There might've been a cameo."

"Is that right?"

"Maybe more like a...feature role."

"Romantically?"

"I'm not saying a word." She teased as they both walked right past Willow's little hiding spot, and she lowered her notebook to watch them go with a smile. Buffy was getting closer and closer to Reily and she was happy for her friend. It had been long since she'd had a nice, stable relationship and that would be good for her. Plus, as her best female friend, she'd be the first one to get all the juicy details. But, for the time being, she had to get to Wicca group.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"We come together, daughters of Gaea, sisters to the moon. We walk, with the darkness, the wolf at our side. Through the waterfall of power, to the blackest heart of eternity. I think we should have a bake sale."

Willow could barely keep back a depressed sigh as the atmosphere shattered like fine china being dropped off a skyscraper. The Wicca groups weren't anything like she'd thought it would be. Instead of doing magic, all they did was meditate and talk about bake sales, like the leader of the group had just suggested.

"I don't know." One of the girls said as Willow opened her eyes, looking at the circle compiled of fourteen girls, including herself, sitting in chairs or on the floor around a table.

"Y-you guys like a bake sale right? I mean, we need money for the dance recital, and you know I do an empowering lemon bundt."

"The most important thing is the Gaean newspaper," the other girl argued. "We need to get the message of blessing out to the other sisters. Also, who left their scented candles dripping all over my woman power shrine?"

"Well, this is...good. I mean, this is all fun. You know, but there's, other stuff that we might show an interest in as a, Wicca group." Willow suggested to everyone.

"Like what?" The leader of the group, who had been leading them before, asked, looking confused.

"Well, there's the, wacky notion of spells. You know, conjuring, transmutation."

"Oh yeah, and then we can all get on our broomsticks and fly around on our broomsticks." One said in a condescending manner, making the others laugh and Willow look at the ground in embarrassment.

"That was uncalled for, you wannabe witch."

Willow jerked and her eyes shot up at the familiar voice. Tobias was floating above the middle of the table, resting his head on his right arm and glaring at the girl that had made the comment. He noticed Willow looking and gave a halfhearted wave hello. "Hey Willow."

"You know, certain stereotypes, are not very empowering." The leader said, sounding like she was explaining this to a child.

"I-I think that-" one member of the group tried speak up. She had long, shoulder length hair and a black, thin over shirt and a more solid undershirt, a necklace of small beads around her neck and black dress pants.

"One member's energy, can suck the power from an entire circle. No offense." The same girl that had insulted Willow said.

"And that might be true if this was an actual circle of witches and not a bunch of college girls talking about selling pastries." Tobias told the girl, despite the fact he knew she couldn't hear him.

"W-well, maybe we could..." The blonde girl tried to speak up again.

"Yeah, Tara? Guys, be quiet." The chuckles still going on stopped as everyone, including the astral projecting Tobias, gave Tara their attention. "Do you have a suggestion?"

Tara seemed surprised that people were actually listening to her and smiled nervously, looking around, but then her courage seemed to desert her and she shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"Ok then, let's talk about the theme for the bacchanal." The girl said, but Willow wasn't listening. She kept looking at Tara who stole a glance up to look at her. The redhead wasn't sure, but something about Tara felt different from the other girls in the group. Tobias was thinking the same thing when he noticed her eyes flick towards him and stare for a second before looking down.

'Interesting.' He thought to himself, half raising an eyebrow.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The group went on for another half hour and then dismissed itself, going their separate ways. Willow watched as the blonde Tara walked away quickly with her head bowed. She was tempted to go after her, but she had more important things to do. She looked at Tobias who was still floating about the table before he drifted away from it and set his feet on the floor. He nodded his head towards the doors that lead outside and walked, Willow following him out. After a few minutes they came to the middle of a small field of grass on campus and settled under a tree in its shade.

"Ok, everyone can see me now, so you won't look crazy talking to yourself." Tobias got the ball rolling.

"What are you doing here? Its school hours and I was busy."

"Sorry, it's just...I was wondering around campus for a few hours and then saw you and the Wicca group. Thought I'd...listen in a little bit." He said, looking guilty.

She sighed. "Why have you been astral projecting around campus for hours?"

"I didn't have anything better to do." He said, looking at the ground and pulling up a blade of grass to twirl between his fingers.

The redhead wasn't sure what to do. In the past few days, everyone had noticed Tobias was becoming more quiet and reclusive than normal. They rarely saw him at Giles's place and according to Buffy, patrols were going faster than normal because Tobias would be staking the vampires so fast they never even got a chance to fight. Even Anya had noticed his change in mood and that was saying something. But either way, Willow didn't like how her friend was retreating into himself without even giving them a reason as to why.

So with that in mind, she started to say, "Tobias, everyone is worried..."

"I'm heartsick."

Willow blinked. "What?"

"You're all worried about me and want to know what's wrong. I'm heartsick, that's what's wrong." Tobias flicked the blade of grass he was holding while Willow tried to process what she had heard.

She knew Tobias had a girlfriend. He mentioned it before and had even made a joke out of it after he'd helped grieve in her room, but the idea that he of all people could be heartsick was surprising. Until she thought about and it realized it made some sense. He'd been in Sunnydale for a few months now, but if she went by what he was saying, he hadn't gotten any calls or letters or anything from his girlfriend in all that time, and it was just now starting to put him down. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to, like he had done with her.

"And no, I don't want to talk about it." He seemed to read her thoughts.

"Are you..."

"Yes I sure Willow, now drop it!" He snapped angrily, making her flinch at the tone. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just irritated right now and don't feel like talking about my private life." He plucked another blade of grass and twirled it like the last one.

'This is new.' Willow thought privately. She had seen friendly Tobias, angry Tobias, curious Tobias, excited Tobias, and just plain scary Tobias, but now he just looked...depressed, for lack of a better word. Sitting on the ground, glumly twirling a piece of grass while looking with glazed over eyes at the ground. Compared to how he normally was, she didn't like it, even less than she liked mopey Willow.

"So how's your day been?" If she couldn't cheer him up by getting him to tell her what was wrong, then maybe she could at least get his mind off.

"Boring. I've spent the past few hours wandering in and out of classrooms and listening in. So far I've been in biology, sociology, Shakespeare English and acting. All dull."

Ok, that wasn't working. Maybe telling him about her day would get him interested?

"Well, if it helps, not much happened today for me either. Except for psych and Wicca group."

"What happened in psych?" Tobias asked, giving her his attention.

"Buffy fell asleep. And I think she might've had a Slayer dream."

"So something big and bad might coming our way?" Tobias asked, actually looking a bit interested and hopeful at that prospect.

"If Buffy's previous slayer dream are anything to go by, I'd say there's a 100% chance of bad guys in our forecast."

"Hhmm," Tobias hummed, a barely noticeable smile on his face. Maybe he had just needed something besides vampires to fight. Willow still remembered the first time she'd seen him take down a vampire, not to mention that he could fight Buffy and win. "Well, maybe we'll get something interesting but non-lethal this time."

Willow snorted. "How often has that happened?"

"I don't know, you tell me." They both chuckled at the joke and then fell into a comfortable silence for a few seconds. "Hey, who was the blonde girl that spoke up in Wicca group?"

"Oh, that was uh, Tara. I don't know her last name, but she arrived in Wicca group around the same time I did, and I think she's a freshman too. Why?"

"Because I think she noticed me. And I don't mean I showed myself to her, but she looked right at me for a second. She definitely got my attention after that." So far the only things that had been able to see him in astral form had been the Scooby Gang and Anya had been able to tell right off the bat something had been off.

"You don't think she's a demon do you?" Willow asked, having been told about that earlier.

"No, she's not a demon. Doesn't have the same bearing as the few I've seen, but she is different. Maybe keep an eye on her, just in case." Tobias advised her. He let go off the blade of grass that floated for a second before being ripped in half once, twice, over and over again until it fluttered to the ground as confetti. "I won't keep you, you probably need to get to class."

"Yeah, guess I do," Willow glanced at her watch as she stood. "I'll see you later."

"Hey Willow." She stopped walking and turned to see a slight smile on his face again. "Thanks for talking."

She smiled back brightly and nodded before he vanished, leaving no trace.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So not stellar, huh?" Buffy asked as she and Willow walked down the crowded hall to their dorm room.

"Talk, all talk." Willow shook her head. "'Blah blah, Gaea, blah blah, moon, menstrual life force power thingy.' You know, after a couple sessions I was hoping we be getting into something real, but..."

"No actual witches in your witch group?"

Willow debates about telling her about Tobias's suspicions about Tara in her group, but decided against it. It wasn't even assured she was a witch, plus she was way too different from other witches they'd seen in their adventures. "No. Bunch of Wanna-Blessed-Bes. You know, nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones." she grumbled as they entered their dorm room.

"Well, I'm sorry it was a bust. I know you were looking to go further in that department." She apologized.

"I'd just like to float something bigger than a pencil someday." She said, slipping off her bag and walking to her bed while Buffy got them something drink from their mini fridge. "Hey, how's with you and Reily? You two seemed pretty snuggly after class." She said suggestively and with a large smile on her face.

"See above, retalk. All talk." Buffy told Willow as she handed her a can of soda, popping the tab on her own in the process.

"Do I have to tie you two together?" She said, exasperated as she did her own.

"We almost, but..."

"Well get with it, I need my vicarious smoochies." Willow teased.

Buffy slumped her shoulders and pouted. "I don't know," she said childishly. "I get nervous when I start babbling, and then he starts babbling, and it's a babble feast. Plus, every time we talk I have to lie. The Slayer thing comes up one way or another." She sighed. "I just wish I could come clean."

"Sorry." Willow sipped her soda. "But if it helps, you're aren't the only one having trouble with romance. I saw astral Tobias after Wicca group."

"Again? Seems like the only time we see him is on patrol or him floating around everywhere." Buffy sighed again. "Does he seem better at least?"

"Not really, but he told me he was suffering from a case of heartsickness. I think he misses his girlfriend, but he seemed a bit better after we talked."

Buffy grumbled. "Everyone has someone except you and me. But if he misses his somebody, why doesn't he just call her?"

"Don't know, he said he didn't want to talk about it." Willow shrugged. "Hey, did you tell Giles about your dream?"

"Yeah, I gave him a call and he said he'd look into it. This one was pretty creepy, even had its own little song."

"Oh, what was it?" Willow asked eagerly. Buffy sang it for her and she didn't look as eager afterwards. "Well, that just screams happy and cheerful."

"Yeah, no kidding." Buffy said, taking a drink from her soda to calm her nerves. "But that wasn't even the weirdest thing."

"Wow, something was so weird it registered on the weirdness scale?"

"Yeah, it did. In fact I think it almost buried the needle this time." Buffy explained how the shadows had acted before detailing the two women, namely the dagger and mystery substance in either hands.

"Huh. That is weird, even for the Hellmouth. Did you tell Giles about that too?"

"He said he'd look into them, but he doubted he'd find anything if they were humanoid or something like that. Now I'm just waiting to get back to me."

Willow nodded. "So, how close were you and Reily to kissing?" She teased with a smile. They spent the rest of the night talking before heading to bed.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was the darkest part of the night, when everyone, when even Buffy and the vampires had gone to sleep. Nothing was moving or going bump in the shadows, but resting peacefully and dreaming, either peaceful normal human dreams, or dreams that involved a lot of screaming, chaos, and blood. Guess which was which.

In an boarded up and abandoned clock tower, a skeletal pair of arms dressed in black, formal sleeves set down a box that had black lines tracing triangular on it, bony fingers holding it with their fingertips. It flipped open the top to show nothing inside, but whispers filled the air the second it was open. They seemed to grow louder and louder until it was a symphony of indistinguishable voices.

All over the town of Sunnydale, something unusual happened. Every person, old and young, big and small, male and female, human and demon, exhaled a puff of a white substance like smoke that snaked into the sky. Thousands and thousands all flowed like an ocean towards the single structure and into the box, sucked in like a black hole. Once all the substance had gathered and vanished into the box, the same hands closed it gently and the owner of said hands stepped into the moonlight shining in through dirty glass.

It was humanoid, with a bald head and dead, glassy eyes that held an inherited sinister menace. Face wide in a permanent and leering smile that showed shiny, metallic teeth. Thin limbs dressed in a spotless tuxedo that made him seem sophisticated and proper, but that only added to the overall aura of creepiness.

The Gentlemen had arrived in Sunnydale. And they weren't the only ones.

_Moments before_

In the middle of a graveyard, the same graveyard Tobias had arrived in Sunnydale in fact, it was the same as everywhere else in the town. Quite, without a hint of wind to stir the branches. It was a tranquil scene of death, until a tendril of electricity reached out and grasped at the air like a dying man before sputtering out. The event repeated itself twice more before a bright flash of burning white light flooded the graveyard. If one was around to listen, they would've heard two sets of feet hitting the ground before the light faded, leaving the grave darker than it had been before as the moon was hidden by a stray cloud.

"Oh, that trip seemed rougher than the others didn't it?" One figure said in an uneasy, female voice to the other, slightly taller one as they straightened. Light violet eyes blinked as their eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness.

"I think River might've forgotten to adjust the transit settings in her rush." The other nodded, shaking off a slight headache.

The cloud moved and the liquid light from the moon shined down again to illuminate the two figures.

It was the same people from Buffy's vision, right down to the clothes but with a few minor differences. The dark skinned girl had her knife in a sheath that was strapped to her right thigh and had a large duffle bag over her left shoulder. The light skinned one had all of her hair up in a high ponytail that left her neck bare. She looked around and grimaced slightly.

"A graveyard? This is where he arrived in, Yahan?"

"Well, considering River called in everyone we know and we threatened Dante with extreme pain if he was wrong, I think we're in the right place Kazehana."

"True," Kazehana mused. "Do you feel that buzz in the air?"

Yahan looked around. "Now that you mention it, I do. Kind of annoying. Do you feel him at all?"

Kazehana frowned. "No. Not clearly, something is screwing up with our bonds with him. The best I can feel is he's somewhere in that general direction." She waved a hand in a wide arc to her right. "You?"

"Same. Plus," Yahan narrowed her eyes. "Is it me, or is it...too quite?"

Even if Kazehana had a response, it would've died in her throat as the two looked up. Both stared at the river of smoke pouring through the sky and looked in the direction it was flowing, but couldn't see past the trees.

"That can't be..." Yahan was about to say _good_ but both women gasped as the same substance escaped their mouths and flowed away quickly to join the others. They both watched as the sky quickly cleared quickly. Then the pair looked at each other.

Yahan tried to speak, but nothing came out of her mouth as her lips moved. She looked shocked and tried to talk again, but she was silent, like someone had pressed the mute button on her. Kazehana attempted to speak only for the same result to happen. They shared a look that said the same thing, making up for their sudden lack of speech.

_This just turned from bad to worse._

**A/N: oh, I am feeling good now everybody! I got the exact two people I want introduced and wrapped up a great chapter. Now next chapter is going to keep going with this, but this will be my first time writing a "mute" chapter, so I'm going to be a bit jerky as I find my flow. But leave a review and let me know what you thought!**

**P.S: I own nothing except my OC in this chapter, as well as any previous and future chapters. I hate disclaimers, but like Willow said, a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.**


	11. Hush Part 2

Buffy woke up the next morning and sat up, pushing back her hair and gathering her wits for the day. She smiled slightly when she saw Willow had tossed and turned during the night, resulting in her being tangled up in her sheets. The blonde grabbed her toothbrush, tooth paste and other toiletries before heading to the girl's bathroom and going through her morning ritual. She was just stepping out and about to go back in her dorm when a softly crying girl in a night robe walked past quickly, rubbing her eyes. Buffy looked with a raised eyebrow but shrugged it off.

Willow was just waking up, yawning and pushing back her covers to climb out of bed as Buffy entered. The blonde smiled and tried to say 'good morning,' but no sound came out.

'Hey' was Willow's attempted response, only to get the same thing. She stopped and looked slightly confused.

Buffy tried to clear her throat and tried again. 'Good morning,' but nothing came out. Buffy's mind started to race while Willow slowly stood out of bed looking at her. 'Willow? Can you hear me?!' She mouthed.

She shook her head. 'No. I've gone deaf!' She grabbed her ears.

'No, I don't think so,' Buffy knew it wasn't that. She had been able to hear the running water in the bathroom when she was brushing her teeth, plus that girl in the hallway. That only left one logical explanation. 'We can't speak!'

'I can't hear you!'

The two gestured back and forth for a few seconds before Buffy made a sign for Willow to stay here, heading for the door and looking out while Willow went to their mirror and looked in it with her mouth open, trying to look at the inside of her throat. The halls were quickly filling up with people whose mouths were moving but nothing was coming out of them as they tried to talk to people.

The phone rang, drawing both girls attention. Buffy closed their door and picked it up, mouthing 'Hello?' out of habit, then looking up when she remembered she couldn't speak. Whoever was on the other end hung up, leaving a dial tone. She did the same before Tobias suddenly appeared in their room. He looked at them both before lifting his right hand, words forming out of the air about it. _You guys too?_

They both nodded and he shook his head, the words reforming. _What the hell is going on? Joyce and I can't make a sound. Give me five minutes to check on the others._ He vanished without waiting for an answer, leaving the other girls to change out of their night clothes and into casual clothes just as he reappeared.

_It's the same all over town. Nobody can speak._

'What now?' Willow mouthed.

_Giles wants me to spread the word to meet up at his place. And bring notebooks and pens. Something tells me we're going to need them._ Tobias gave them both a look before he was gone again and both girls were out the door minutes later.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Yahan and Kazehana both wandered the streets dressed in the same clothes they had arrived in. They had managed to find a fairly decent warehouse to spend the night in, but now they were both walking through the town of Sunnydale. Yahan had made sure to place her dagger in the duffle bag to avoid alarm from others.

It was depressing to say the least. Everyone was walking in silence that seemed to press down with a physical weight, smothering any will to do anything but sit and sink into a introspective depression. They, however, were not most people. Aside from that, most of the stores except the ones that sold alcohol were closed and makeshift stands had popped up. One was selling revelations for fifteen dollars, a preacher standing on a wooden box while he and others standing before him read from the bible. Another one was selling 'message boards' for ten dollars each which were whiteboard with a piece of string to hang around ones neck and a dry erase marker was included. Yahan pointed at that stand and Kazehana nodded in response. The former pulled a black wallet from her pockets and bought two for them. She uncapped her marker and wrote something on it before showing it to Kazehana.

**This is easily one of the strangest things we've seen yet.**

Kazehana grimaced and wrote on her own. **Not to mention whatever is doing this seems to have scrambled the bonds even more than they were. It's going to be almost impossible to find him in all of this.**

**Well, it's the best we've got. Maybe they'll get stronger the closer we get to him. **Yahan responded. **Besides, we've been through worse.**

**Like what?**

**Do I need to remind you about that time Jack tried to hit on Miya?**

Both girls shuddered. **No, you do not. I still remember what he looked like when she was done with him. **Kazehana wrote back. And it had been a pale, shivering mess for an hour before he had shaken it off. Even then he made sure to keep his distance from the woman that moment onwards. **Which way do you want to try?** She asked when they came to a crossroads.

**Let's try left.**

The pair took the left street. Ten minutes later, a blonde Slayer and redhead witch came by the same way, but took a right instead.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tobias took a second to try and figure out how the day had gone wrong so fast.

He'd woken up and gone through his morning ritual before running into Joyce in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. They'd tried to say their normal morning greetings, only got find neither of them could speak. So he'd decided to go straight into astral form and check on the others, leaving his body in the family room after telling Joyce not to move or touch him. Thankfully he'd managed to make it so he didn't leave his eyes open when he left his body. And the sphere of wind had really just been him showboating and having a little fun freaking out Willow, so that was nothing to worry about. His first stop had been Buffy and Willow's dorm room, then Xander. That had been an amusing experience, with Xander in a shirt and his boxers and Spike tied to a chair a few feet away, both rendered mute but if the blonde vampire couldn't talk, he wasn't complaining. It did raise the question why Spike was with Xander instead of Giles like he had been for the past few weeks though.

He'd gotten that answer when he saw the dark skinned, attractive woman Giles had been coming downstairs with. She hadn't seen him at first, but Giles had since Tobias wanted him to see him. A quick "talk" and he found out that the woman was Olivia Williams, an old friend of his from his teenager days that could be trusted, but he had told Tobias not to show himself in his astral form. He'd also told him about Buffy's vision of the little girl and her song, and to spread the word to meet at his house as soon as possible while he searched for any mention of the Gentlemen. But Tobias suspected Giles hadn't told him everything, but maybe it was just unimportant so he didn't push.

So now he was sitting in one of Giles chairs helping him research, Anya, Xander, and Olivia were sitting on the couch watching the news on the TV. Spike was still stuck in Xander's basement until the sun went down. Giles was at his desk with several open books trying to find any information.

The problem was he had an annoying buzzing in the back of his head, which had been there the instant he'd woken up. It seemed to vary in intensity at random. Sometimes it'd be barely noticeable and then spike before fading back. It had been more noticeable when he was teleporting in his astral form, but also more random.

The door opened then, Buffy and Willow stepping through and they both had some notebooks under their arms. Xander turned and stood up when he saw them, Giles standing up from his desk as well. Both girls mouthed 'hi' and Xander gave a wave back. Tobias closed his book and nodded while Giles out a reassuring hand on Buffy's arm, which she seemed to appreciate. She noticed the books on Giles's desk and looked at him, then Tobias. 'Anything?'

Giles shook his head and Tobias held up his arms in a clueless gesture. He then stood and walked across the room, holding out his hand for one of the notebooks. Willow handed him one and a pen she pulled from a pocket. Tobias scribbled before showing them. Still can't find anything. Whatever these Gentlemen are, we can't find them in the normal places. P.S, I'm refraining from using my powers with Giles's friend here. After making sure they read the post note, he scribbled it out.

Willow looked like she remembered something and opened one of the notebooks, writing something down before holding it up with a small smile. Hey guys. Tobias smiled and nodded, Giles giving her a one armed hug. Xander suddenly snapped his fingers to get their attention and moved to the TV set, turning up the volume.

"..._breaking news item from Sunnydale, California," _the news spokesman said. _"Apparently the entire town has been quarantined due to an epidemic of, as strange as this may sound, laryngitis. It seems the town has been rendered unable to speak. There's no word yet as to what might have caused this or what other effects could come from this epidemic. Local authorities have issued statement, a written statement I should say, blaming recent flu vaccinations. Sunnydale has effectively shut down, all schools and business will be closed for the time being, and residents are advised to stay home and rest up. The Centers for Disease Control have ordered the entire town quarantined until the syndrome is identified or the symptoms disappear as it develops."_

'That's it?' Xander mouthed, incredulous.

Buffy took the notebook Willow had written on and wrote her own message, showing it to Giles. _Keep researching. I should be __in town __**tonight.**_

Giles looked confused. 'Why?'

_Because with people scared and panicked, you can bet there's going to be looting, fighting, and general unlawfulness. I'll go out too, I'm not doing much good here without any ideas on where to look._ Tobias wrote quickly, showing the duo.

But they needed to find a solution to this situation, and fast, before someone got hurt.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The two teens walked through Sunnydale's light streets and they painted a dreary picture. People walking around like they were in a haze, not unlike zombies, but nobody was trying to eat somebody's brains. There was, as expected, the scum of the earth taking advantage of the situation, mostly small time looting and crimes like mugging that were quickly stopped and the offenders sent on their way after a normal punch to the face or body to get the point across. Finally they came to a street that had a car crashed in a fire hydrant, spewing water in a continuous geyser, but nobody seemed to car and the driver was long gone.

Buffy was looking at all this and she could feel the aura of helplessness that had engulfed her home. It was situations like these that caused the worst kinds of demons, but these weren't physical demons. It was the feelings that sapped people will to move on or do anything that made every movement feel like a waste, pointless. The feelings preyed without remorse or discrimination, just claiming everything it could in its grasp. She had felt the same way at times, but her duty as the Slayer forced her to get back on her feet and just keep moving, no matter what.

She glanced at Tobias. She was a bit worried the atmosphere would pull him down too, but he seemed to be coping. He helped out those who needed helping and kept his powers under wraps since they were dealing with people instead of demons. But the look on his face said he was just as, if not more, familiar with this type of environment as she was. It just raised more and more questions about him, and she was starting to lose count of the number of things she wanted to know.

Then Buffy noticed a pair of guys, both in suits that were starting to push each other back and forth. Before they could come to blows, Riley came from the side and pulled them apart. He looked between the two before one tried to rush the other. He out a firm hand on his chest and pushed him away. Buffy looked to check on Tobias and saw he was whistling- or pretending to- innocently while walking a small distance away. The blonde turned her attention back to her crush and walked towards him. He was straightening the man's collar while the one he pushed had knelt down and grabbed a stray pipe. Buffy broke his wrist without breaking stride and approached Riley as he sent the man on his way. The tall man then noticed Buffy.

The two stared at the other for a second, before Riley pulled Buffy into a hug that she gladly returned. For a few seconds she was content in his arms. It felt safe, secure, and solid. Everything she wanted to feel and wanted in a relationship. It was ironic that she hadn't been able to say anything before when she wanted too, and now that she really wanted to she could speak period. They separated and he looked her over before mouth with a concerned face, 'Are you ok?'

She nodded. 'Yeah. You?'

He nodded his head, as if to say he'd been better. There was a crashing and they both looked in the direction it had come from before looking back. Riley looked like he was trying to say he had to go and she nodded, completely understanding. He started going and she started walking back to Tobias, but then he grabbed her arm and she turned. He looked conflicted, but she read his eyes. The same eyes that were saying the same thing they had been saying since they had started their little dance. He then looked determined and ducked his head, pressing his lips to hers. She was slightly surprised, but that soon gave way to her own feelings as she returned the kiss. This went on for a few seconds before they separated. They had a silent conversation that didn't involve words, but feelings, before he left to deal with the disturbance.

Buffy wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but she knew it was a breakthrough in their relationship. Their relationship? Did she really just think that? She thought about it before deciding that she liked the sound of that as Tobias walked over, a happy smile on his face. He looked around to make sure they were alone before one word formed in the air. _Congratulations._

That was all he wrote before they went back to doing what they needed to do.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**This is getting old fast.** Yahan wrote on her whiteboard.

**Well, we can't do anything else but look.** Kazehana wrote back.

**(Grumble) Doesn't mean I have to like it. We've been searching for hours.**

The girls had managed to find a motel that they could stay in during the early hours of morning. They had dumped their duffle bag and spent the entire day combing the town. It was hard to ask question without talking, but the few they were able to write out didn't matter. Nobody seemed to have seen who they were looking for, which wasn't that surprising. It was one person in an entire town, plus they had stopped at the public library to find out anything they could about the town, which led them to discover the incidents, mysterious deaths and disappearances, and that it had been going on as far back as anyone could remember. While interesting, that wasn't their concern at the moment. Their bonds kept slipping in and out, sometimes sharper, other times muffled to the point of nonexistence. Now it was getting too dark to keep looking and they had to go back to their motel to sleep.

They took a shortcut down the stereotypical dark alley, which most people would've avoids like the plague out of fear. They weren't normal people, plus they were short tempered from a day of searching and finding close to nothing. They were halfway down when something happened.

Four men all stepped out of the shadows, two in front of them and two in back, cutting off their escape. That all looked the same, big bodies that were bulging with either fat or muscle, short neck, small eyes that were sparkling with greed and disgusting lust as they roamed the forms of the two woman.

Yahan and Kazehana looked at each other before Yahan scribbled down a message on her whiteboard. **I take the front, you take the back?**

Kazehana flipped a thumbs up and they both discarded their whiteboards. Then they were both off like a shot.

Yahan charged her first target and delivered a right cross the face. The man staggered back before she punched him in the solar plexus, causing him fall to his knees with arms around his midsection in clear pain. Yahan out him out of his misery with a kick to the back of the head. She was grabbed from behind by the other man, trapping her arms. The dark skinned woman head-butted him, breaking his nose and making him recoil. Freed, Yahan ducked down and swept his legs out from under him and sent him to join his friend with a rabbit punch between the eyes.

Kazehana took a faster but equally painful route. She clenched her fists, white swirling around them, before she slammed them into the stomachs of the two behind them. Both men were sent rocketing back and slammed into a brick wall. Things broke, and it wasn't the bricks, before the men slid down the wall with broken bones and a concussion each.

Yahan flicked her hair before grabbing the white boards, handing Kazehana her own. She wrote: **That was almost fun. Kinda like a small warm up.**

**Really? I didn't like it. Too fast and too easy.**

**Well, we can't always get a good challenge. They're just normal scumbags. Shall we?**

They both left the four humans crumpled in the alley and headed back to their motel. Tomorrow they'd pick up their search again.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Later that night, the clock tower door where the Gentlemen were residing opened, and six of the Gentlemen floated out smoothly a foot off the ground. Three of them held old fashioned bags and they were followed by creatures just distorted as the Gentlemen themselves were. Bald heads and blank eyes, but they were dressed in strait jackets and black pants, lumbering like insane men. There were the same number of them as the Gentlemen that left the clock tower. The six Gentlemen waved politely to each other as they split off into pairs. Two of them headed for one neighborhood, two for another, and the last two headed for the campus of UC Sunnydale.

The first two floated past lines of small, family friendly homes before stopping at one and floating up the walk. The door opened under their hands and they floated inside, never stopping in their polite behavior or frozen smiles.

In Giles's home, the owner of the house was asleep, but his companion in his bed was still awake. Olivia was trying to swallow what was happening in the town she was in. She had stopped in Sunnydale to see her old friend and love interest, plus maybe do a...extra activity or two to catch up. But having her voice and everyone else having their voice stolen or silenced was unsettling.

She checked on Giles, making sure he was asleep, before slipping out of bed and grabbing a robe to slip into, intending to go downstairs to get something to drink. She needed to settle her nerves before she could sleep. She padded downstairs on silent feet, stopping in the middle of living room as she did. She felt an urge to look outside and went to the window to do so, pushing aside the curtains. She saw something moving across the street and leaned in close, squinting to try and see better. Then one of the Gentlemen silently floated past the window, looking directly at her as it did. Olivia jumped back with a gasp, heart racing as the creature floated past. She swallowed and panted slightly, the creatures face burned into her mind.

The last pair arrived in Buffy's dorm building, floating silently down the hall as their helpers followed. They moved slowly down the hall, one occasionally pointing out a room before the other made polite gestures that said no and they moved on. One pointed at Buffy and Willow dorm room, the pair sleeping peacefully in their beds. The Gentlemen slid right past their room and turned the corner, finally stopping outside the door of one and nodding in agreement.

The teen inside was roused from his sleep by a knocking at his door. He pushed himself off his bed, rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep from them as he went to his door and opened it. He saw the two figures that were the Gentlemen outside his door and froze, unable to process what he was seeing. His confusion was all that was needed for the Gentlemen's helpers to force their way into the room and wrestle the teen to his bed, holding down his arms and legs while he tried to call for help. The Gentlemen went to other side of the bed and one held up the bag it was holding, opening it and pulling out a scalpel. It handed it to its companion who looked down at the terrified person who kept trying to scream with all his might, but he couldn't make a sound to be heard as the Gentleman lowered the medical blade to the flesh and made a long, smooth incision.

**A/N: A bit short, but I'm trying to crank these out as fast as I can, so just be patient.**


	12. Hush part 3

The next morning Tobias woke up irritated. That stupid buzzing that had started since the Gentlemen had come to town had prevented him from falling asleep for hours, until sheer exhaustion had forced him to fall asleep. Plus patrolling the town had gotten him in a bad mood. After running into Reily, he and Buffy had found a small abandoned building that had nested vampires. They had been feeding, which wasn't really a surprise. They still had to eat, but their victim had been a young woman that had died moments before they had arrived from blood loss. And the worst part was it looked like the vampires had decided to have a little "fun" with her before killing her.

Buffy hadn't even gotten a chance to dust one vampire since Tobias had gone through them like a wolf through a herd of deer. And he didn't use his stake, but rather his own two hands and powers to kill them. He'd also discovered that vampires only died if you inflicted an actual killing blow. Otherwise, they suffered injuries and pain just like humans. So, he had methodically ripped them apart, some of them literally, and made sure they couldn't run as he killed them one by one. When he finally got to the leader, he took longer than he had with the others. The others he had taken thirty seconds each. The leader he made sure to take at least five minutes before putting him out of his misery, but only because they had to get back to patrolling. He hadn't noticed that Buffy had been looking at him like someone would look at a dangerous animal, but he wouldn't have cared it he had. They'd made a quick stop by the police station and he'd left an anonymous note telling them where they'd find the dead girl.

The rest of the night went by quickly enough, but he still thought it had taken too long. Seeing what the vampires had done had been a shock in and of itself. The previous vampires he had run into had been in graveyards, and they were killed before they could claim a victim. Seeing a young woman, however, who had clearly been abused before she died, had just reminded him that the world was not all fun and games, but had people that died simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he couldn't save them. It just made him a bit bitter.

He went through his morning ritual and went to eat breakfast, greeting Joyce with a nod as she drank a cup of coffee. Once he was done and did his dishes, he grabbed the morning newspaper from the front step and read the headline: **Brutal slaying shocks silent community.** Then he noticed a sub article read: **15-year-old girl found stabbed, heart was missing**.

Well if that didn't spell the work of demons and monsters, he didn't know what did. One thing he did know, he needed to talk to Giles and the rest of the gang, now. So he grabbed a random notebook without paying any real attention to it and told Joyce he was going over to Giles's place. He was out of the house and flying in seconds, landing outside Giles's house minutes later and knocking at the door. Olivia answered it and he waved before mouthing, 'I need to talk to Giles.'

She nodded and opened the door to invite him in. Giles was flipping through the pages of a book and jotting down notes with single minded intensity, a picture on a notepad next to him. Tobias could tell he was on to something, but he tapped the Watchers shoulder to get his attention. Once he had it, he mouthed, 'You have something?'

Giles nodded and handed Tobias the picture. On it was a very good sketch of a monster with a bald head and a creepy smile. He looked at Olivia. 'Did you draw this?' She nodded, rubbing her arms as if to ward off cold. 'It's very good.' He nodded, giving her a thumbs up before looking at Giles. 'What is it?'

In response, he handed Tobias the notebook he had been writing on. The teen scanned through them before looking at the librarian. This was even worse than he thought.

Giles took it back and wrote. _Gather the others in one of the university's lecture halls._ Tobias nodded and was about to leave when Giles added, _Also, why are you carrying your sketchbook?_

Tobias looked sharply and saw he had grabbed his sketchbook instead of one of the notebooks they had had lying around the house in his rush. He grimaced, knowing he was going to have to waste some paper today and be careful not to let anyone see inside it. There were things in it he wouldn't share yet. 'Accident. I got the others.' He mouthed, getting a nod in response before he left the house.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

A few hours of searching and getting them together, the Scooby gang was gathered in the lecture hall, Giles setting up an overhead projector while Xander closed the shades. Willow and Buffy sat side by side, Tobias in the seat to Buffy's right, Xander sitting on the floor near the bottom, Anya in a row of her own. She didn't seem bothered by the situation, if the bag of popcorn she was eating said anything. Seeing they were seated and comfortable, Giles turned on a stereo he had brought, opera music filling the room as he cracked his knuckles. He out the first sheet on the projector, but it was backwards. Willow and Buffy pointed, Anya twirling her finger to signal him. He noticed and did so, showing the words were _WHO ARE THE GENTLEMEN?_

The next slid had a crude drawing of one holding a bag. _THEY ARE FAIRY TAIL MONSTERS._

The next sheet, reading _WHAT DO THEY WANT?_ Promoted Willow to excitedly raise her hand before pointing at her chest. Xander looked confused and mouthed, 'breasts?' Willow, Buffy and Tobias rolled their eyes before the later gave Xander a smack behind the head with his powers. The next slide read _HEARTS, _and he nodded, rubbing the back of his head while Anya looked amused.

_THEY COME TO A TOWN, _slide, _THEY STEAL ALL THE VOICES, SO NO ONE CAN SCREAM_, slide, _THEN_, Giles held a finger to emphasize this point, and put up two slides, showing a Gentleman cutting a human before holding their heart in its hand. Buffy and Willow looked at each other while Tobias made the word _charming _out of air.

_THEY NEED SEVEN HEARTS. THEY HAVE AT LEAST TWO._ The next slide had seven bleeding hearts as well. Tobias grimaced as he read the slide. Buffy has told him one of the students in their dorm had been found in his bed, chest cut open and heart missing. It had been down the hall of their own dorm room and it made him shiver at what a close call it had been to losing two of his friends.

Xander snapped his fingers to get their attention before showing his notebook: _How do we kill them!?_

Buffy made a motion with her hand that drew very odd looks from everyone before Tobias formed the words..._ok, it needs to be said. We're not giving them a hand job Buffy._

The blonde looked mortified as her face went supernova before she dug through her bag and got out her stake, making the same motions, only now it was clearly she meant stabbing. Everyone awkwardly nodded while Buffy grabbed a stray pen and threw it at Tobias since she couldn't hit him, the object bouncing off his head.

The next slide had a Gentleman with three swords sticking out of it. _IN THE TALES, NO SWORD CAN KILL THEM._ The next slide had three of them lying on the ground while a little girl was screaming. _BUT THE PRINCESS SCREAMED ONCE... AND THEY ALL DIED._

Willow made gestures to get attention, then got out a CD and clutched her ears like it was too loud before looking like she was choking, finally dying with her tongue out before she grinned. Buffy was too busy writing to notice Giles hold a finger and change slides, with a dancing Gentleman as music played. _ONLY A REAL HUMAN VOICE._ Giles pointed at his throat and Willow had a grumbling expression as she put the disc away.

Buffy held up her message: _How do I get my voice back?_

Giles shrugged before putting up the last slide. _BUFFY AND TOBIAS WILL PATROL TONIGHT. _It had two stick figures, one in a dress armed with an arrow and bow, the other in a black shirt and jeans with two swirly balls above its hands. Buffy made a gesture towards her hips while Tobias narrowed his eyes. _Let the record show I strongly disapprove of your drawing of my abilities._

Giles mouthed 'sorry' before point at Xander, Willow, and Anya before holding up a thick book. The trio walked down and grabbed some books Giles had brought with him, Buffy going down to look at the crude drawing of the Gentleman on the second slide.

So her enemy was a demon, or demons in this case, that could only be killed by a human scream. And it was mentioned that was the only way to kill them, anything else was pointless, but they were a little short on screams at the moment. Sighing, she turned around to see Tobias heading out, but he had forgotten his sketchbook. She quickly grabbed it and her other stuff, going after him until she stumbled on one of the steps and dropped it, landing just right so it opened to the first page. She knelt down to pick up before freezing as she saw what was drawn.

It was the white skinned woman from her vision, down to the last detail. She picked up the sketchbook and looked at the picture closer. It was a very well done headshot, clearly the result from effort and time since she could see the individual strands of hair and the small circle of light that was present when one looked into somebody's eyes. The only differences in this picture from her vision was actually the eyes and mouth. Unlike in there, when the eyes had been filled of unyielding determination, these were full of tenderness and love, with a hint of amusement while her lips were slightly curved in a teasing smile. It was like it had been taken by a camera rather than drawn with the amount of detail.

Buffy ignored the feeling that she was intruding on something private and flipped to the next page. The other woman was there too, with the same differences except a hint of seduction was mixed in that would've drawn men in like a song from the Sirens. The other page had a full body drawing of a woman with curly hair that seemed to explode from her head, an attractive face that had a mischievous smile, crossed arms and a dress that left them bare while dropping to her shins. She had a belt around her waist and a gun holstered in it, plus a similar if not the exact gauntlet Tobias had around her left wrist.

She noticed a small name written in the bottom corner of the page that said _River Song_. The other picture had _Yahan _and the first was _Kazehana._ Weird names, but that was beside the point. She quickly went back to the others, snapping her fingers to get their attention and dropped the sketchbook on the desk, pointing at the first and second pictures urgently before writing down on her notebook and showing them: _These are the two I saw in my vision!_

Giles took off his glasses and looked at the pictures before mouthing 'Are you sure?'

_Positive! Everything is the same!_ She wrote back, almost breaking the pencil tip and leaving deep grooves in the paper in her excitement. _But I don't understand. How does Tobias know them?_

_I don't think we should be doing this. He made it pretty clear that he didn't want this looked at._ Willow wrote with a doubtful look on her face as she looked at the drawings. After Tobias had respected her privacy and helped her with her issues, she felt wrong looking at his personal things without his knowledge.

_Will, if he knows something about them, we need to ask. I don't like this anymore then you do, but this is important._ Buffy wrote. If these two were a part of what was going on, then privacy and everything else had to take a back seat at the mome...

As Giles was leaning in for a closer look, the sketchbook slammed shut, making everyone jump before it flew off the table. They turned to see it end up in the outstretched right hand of a flat faced Tobias. He looked over all of them as they shuffled, looking like children that had been caught in wrong doing. Even Giles took off his glasses and polished them.

Words slowly formed in front of Tobias. _So...that's what privacy means to you guys? Going through my stuff? And..._ Buffy's notebook jerked out of her hand and faced him, eyes scanning it. His eyes narrowed, he kept going. _...because you apparently saw two people I know in a vision, that gives you the right to pry into my life? Great. Now I know I shouldn't keep my things lying around, otherwise you might take those to._ He spun on heel and walked out, the doors slamming shut behind him as the music wound down to silence.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tobias stopped as he turned the corner and put his back to the wall, taking deep breaths as he tried to control the whirlwind of emotions inside. Among them was anger, betrayal, disbelief, and an overpowering sense of hope.

He doubted Buffy's vision simply because visions were known to be fickle. They could be right, they could wrong, and sometimes they were right because you acted in the belief they were right. This was one of the moments when he knew a vision was true, if for no other reason than it was impossible for Buffy to know what Kazehana and Yahan looked like. He had been careful to make sure nobody had seen his sketchbook, and the only reason he had forgotten it was because the buzzing in the back of his head had spiked again, giving him a slight headache and distracting him. Once it had calmed, and the headache with it, he had remembered and gone back to get it. Once he had seen the others crowded around it looking at the pages, his anger had quietly exploded, and he had left before he did something he knew he would regret.

But the betrayal that he had been feeling was offset by the hope that two of the most important people in his life had managed to get here. And maybe that explained the buzzing in the back of his head. It wasn't something random, but his bonds trying to tell him where they were and what they were feeling, just like they were made to do. If they weren't doing that but just producing a noise, then something was messing with them.

He closed his eyes and reached for his bonds, intent on forcing his way through the interference to connect. The buzz grew stronger the more he pushed and he felt a pressure build against his push like a balloon being inflated. He gritted his teeth. He was not going to be denied this even it killed him! The pressure turned into a headache that rapidly built the closer he got, until it felt like his head would explode. He dropped his sketchbook and grabbed his head in both hands, sliding down the floor breathing heavily. He was almost there...just a little bit more and he could connect...

The pressure pushed him away like a bomb going off and he grunted as pain flared before dying down, leaving a throb that pulsed in time with his heart. He breathed in through the nose, frustrated beyond belief. He had feeling whatever the Gentlemen had done to steal everyone's voice was making it so nobody could communication with anybody except by writing. He got up off the floor and walked out of the building, determination and ruthlessness clear in his gait and eyes.

If he had to kill the Gentlemen so he could find Kazehana and Yahan, then he was going to do it in a heartbeat.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**You felt that right?** Yahan wrote after it stopped feeling like something was trying dig its way out of her skull. Kazehana nodded, pressing hand to her temple.

They had been doing the same thing as yesterday, walking around Sunnydale to find Tobias. They were in one of the graveyards around town (they were looking everywhere they could) when pain had come out of nowhere, staying and building for few minutes before suddenly giving. They had needed to sit down or collapse when the pain had gotten too great, but with them in a graveyard they had to sit down on a headstone.

**You don't think something happened?** Yahan added, looking slightly fearful.

Kazehana shook her head. **Based on the little we've seen, I doubt anything here could touch him if he got serious. No, whatever just happened was something else.**

They both looked at each other for a few moments before Yahan sighed and wrote. **We're not going to get any straight answers until we find him, aren't we?**

**No, probably not. But it could be worse.**

**How?**

Kazehana quirks an eyebrow. **We could have to take care of **_**him**_ **as he's scanning everything in sight and waving his hands nonstop.**

Yahan paused for a moment. **Touché. Any ideas on where to look next?**

Kazehana shrugged. **Let's keep looking around town and then maybe around that neighborhood we saw in the papers this morning. If we know Tobias, he's going to be poking around there when nobody is looking.**

Yahan nodded in response and they got up, starting to walk again. They might have covered most of the town, but there were still places they had to check before tonight.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Buffy stole a glance at Tobias as they walked. They had met up around the neighborhood that had been in the papers, where the girl had been killed missing a heart. It seemed as good a place as any, and Buffy had made sure to change into clothes she could easily fight in and to bring a crossbow and her two stakes, one for a backup. Her silent companion had come wearing his normal clothes and his own stake. He also written, up front, _Do not say you're sorry, or anything along those lines. As it is, if you do, I'll do something I will later regret. We're going to patrol, and watch each other's backs in a fight. That's it._

Blunt, clear, and not afraid to show he was pissed for what they had done. If it wasn't for the fact she knew he was extremely dangerous when pissed, she would've appreciated the honesty. She had dealt with people who had never told her the whole story or pretended they were fine after something major, not obvious and upfront.

Still, things needed to go smoothly tonight so she agreed with his statement and they went to the neighborhood to search. So far it had been fruitless, but the night was young.

She tapped Tobias's shoulder and mouthed 'Anything?'

Tobias's eyes flashed silver before he pointed down a street. 'Something over that way.'

She nodded and they went in the direction he indicated. After a while, Tobias pulled Buffy between a large bush and tree, then pointed towards one of the houses. Buffy peeked around it and saw what he had sensed. A Gentleman was floating in the yard of one of the houses. Buffy turned, about Tobias's shoulder to get his attention but paused again when she saw he was coiled and closely watching the demon as it floated out of view, his expression calm. She'd seen that expression a few times before on Angel and her own face. When someone focused everything on studying someone or something and figuring out the best way to kill it, but his seemed more experienced and practiced then her own 'mask' was. She shook off the feeling and tapped his shoulder.

'Follow it?'

He nodded. 'Keep out of sight.' He mouthed before he frowned. Buffy was about to ask what was wrong when she noticed her Slayer senses were starting to tingle and getting stronger. They were warning her about something...in front?

She got her answer when one of the Gentlemen's henchmen came around from the other side of the bush. It saw them and wasted no time jumping at Buffy, knocking her to the ground and swinging its arms at her head. Tobias spun and kicked it off her, straight into one of the trees thick branches. Its momentum was stopped by the wood and it dropped to the ground, Tobias on it in an instant to stab his stake through one of its eyes. He pulled out the weapon, allowing Buffy to see the hilt was stained red and had a slight gel-like substance on the tip. She wasn't squeamish by any definition of the word when it came to death, but seeing Tobias with a bloody stake and his victim having been killed in the time it took to blink drove it home that he was pissed off with the Scooby gang and dangerous because of it.

Tobias was suddenly tackled from the side by two more henchmen, hitting the ground hard as the bodies on top of him weighed him down. Buffy jumped to her feet and kicked one off, sending it in a roll while the other was launched off like it had been fired from a slingshot into his friend, Tobias's eyes silver as his head shot up. He got to his feet and took a step forwards before stumbling, putting a hand to his head with a grimace. At the same time, Buffy's senses went from tingling from the two henchmen that had separated themselves and we're starting to charge them to screaming, desperately trying to warn her about something powerful to their right.

Correction, two something's.

There was a flash of silver before one of the henchmen fell to the ground, a dagger hilt producing from a half inch above where it's ear would be, while the other one suddenly had its throat sliced in single smooth line, blood coming from the open veins and arteries like water from a burst pipe. It collapsed to the ground, its strait jacket quickly being stained red with its own blood.

Buffy looked towards where the dagger had come from. Thirty, forty feet away were the two from her vision, Kazehana and Yahan. The former was pointing with her right index finger and the latter had her entire right arm extended from throwing her weapon. Buffy kept a cautious eye on them both. Just because Tobias knew them didn't mean that the three hadn't had a falling out at some point, like she and Faith had. Before the Mayor had gotten his claws into her they had been good friends, until the last time when she had put Faith in a coma. She heard something hit the ground behind her almost too softly to hear and glanced back.

The silver eyed teen she had just been thinking about had dropped his stake in the grass, making the sound she had heard and she saw he was looking only at the pair. Another look showed that both had lowered their arms and were staring back at him. She didn't know what they were thinking since their faces were calm, but it looked like they were just...drinking in the sight of the other, frozen like statues.

Then Tobias explosively unfroze. She didn't even see him move, but in the next moment he was gone while the ground he had been standing on erupted, leaving her blinking at a small circle of overturned dirt and a small depression. She swung her head back around and saw he had somehow crossed forty feet in less time than it took to blink and was now fiercely hugging Kazehana who was hugging back just as hard. They were swaying slightly and Buffy could tell that the fact nobody could speak didn't matter here. Just the couple holding each other was enough to say everything they wanted to. Tobias pulled back, planting a firm and passionate kiss on her lips.

Buffy was surprised for the third time in the past few minutes, making a new record, as something bright burst from the back of Kazehana, blinding her for a second before her eyes adjusted. When they did, they saw..._wings_, as crazy as that sounded, of light coming from her. They were made of purple light and looked similar to bird wings, the feathers smooth and flowing as the wings folded around the couple in a cocoon of light before fading to nothing and leaving the night darker than it had been.

The blonde had no clue what had just happened as the pair separated and rest their foreheads against each other, breathing heavily for a few seconds before they got it back under control and looked deeply into their eyes. She saw a small smile of contentment form on Kazehana's mouth, Tobias looking lighter and happier then she had seen him in the past few days. They hugged one last time before separating and Tobias turned to Yahan. The dark skinned girl hurled herself into her own hug with him before, amazingly, kissing him as well.

There wasn't an explosion of light this time, but wings expanded from her own back as they kissed. These were different, black and indistinct feathers making up the edges, like someone had taken shadows and molded them into shapes. Buffy had been too startled by the explosion of light before to notice, but now she felt her Slayer senses had just gone through the roof. They were beyond yelling and screaming and warning, they were just making her aware of the sudden and incredibly high jump of power that there had been from both woman. It trumped everything she had felt from her previous Big Bads. The Master, Spike and Drusilla, Angelus, the Mayor after he had ascended...well maybe not that last one, but the power trumped all her other previous villains. The wings folded around them again before melting like ink in water. Yahan pulled away then stole another peck before smiling the same content smile Kazehana had smiled.

Tobias took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, looking more alive and happy then Buffy had seen him yet. What happened next was he apparently had some silent conversations between the pair since Tobias kept looking at both of them and they'd look back, occasionally looking at their same sex companion before looking back. She saw Tobias's eyes go through questioning, listening, slight amusement, concern, and then understanding before he nodded.

Yahan glanced at Buffy and the other two looked at her. Tobias chuckled slightly in amusement (or his smile and slightly shaking shoulders indicating he was trying to) and words formed in the air. _Right, intros. Kazehana and Yahan, this is my friend Buffy Summers. Buffy, these are girlfriends Kazehana and Yahan._

Buffy didn't know how a guy could have two girlfriends, let alone how both girls seemed absolutely content and happy to be sharing one guy. It just went against everything she believed in when it came to the female and male minds. Guys might like to have more than one girlfriend, but it was borderline impossible for that to happen since she, and several other girls she knew in passing plus her female friends, would never allow it. She especially didn't share, period.

She jumped in shock when the three were suddenly a few feet away from her. Yahan held out her hand and smiled politely. Buffy slowly took and shook it, noting that the dark skinned girl had a strong grip, strong enough to make her notice the pressure. She shook Kazehana's hand next while Tobias knelt and pulled out Yahan's dagger from the henchmen, cleaning the blade on its strait jacket of the blood, bone and slight brain matter before offering it to her handle first. Yahan took and slid it into a sheath on her right thigh.

Kazehana looked at Tobias again and words formed in the air. _This is mainly for Buffy's benefit, but now we need to find the Gentlemen, figure out how they've stolen our voices, undo it, and then kill them._ He paused and cocked his head like he heard something. _Speak of the devil. Here comes our ticket to them now._ He looked down the street and everyone followed his line of sight.

'How many of those guys do they have?' Buffy thought to herself as she saw another four of those disfigured henchmen lumbering towards them. She was about to grab her cross bolt to shot them from a distance, but a hand on her own made her stop. Tobias was shaking his head and smirking slightly. _We don't need them killed. Let me handle this._ Buffy wondered what he had in mind, but slowly nodded and let him take the lead. She got more and more antsy as they got closer, until there were only ten feet away and still coming fast. By then she was about to break her stillness and go into action out of sheer instinct and muscle memory.

Then...she wasn't sure what happened. One second four henchmen were almost on top of them, and the next they weren't. Instead Tobias was standing in the middle of the group with three of the henchmen standing around him, while the fourth was a good fifteen feet away on its back like it had been kicked. As she watched, the three standing around him just collapsed like they were puppets that had their strings cut. She gave them a curious once over and didn't see a single mark on them until she saw blood starting to leak out of their ears and nostrils.

The only still living (was something like that alive) henchmen saw what had happened to its friends and stumbled to its feet before running away. Tobias turned around, not looking the least bit disturbed by the three bodies around him. _He's most likely running back to their hideout. We follow him and we've found the Gentlemen._

Buffy put aside what had just happened and nodded. It was a good plan, but they'd have to start running to keep the thing in sight. Before they got moving, Yahan grabbed Tobias's hand. He gave her a curious look before she smirked slightly. Buffy saw his eyes widen before she held up a finger, clearly asking them to wait for a second. The blonde then watched as various shadows, from the trees, bushes, and even their own, _bent _and crawled across the ground before making a circle of darkness around the girl. She dropped like a hole had opened under her and vanished, the shadows dissolving when she did.

Tobias must've noticed Buffy's open mouth and smirked before 'writing' an explanation. _I'm not the only unique one here. Yahan has the ability to travel through shadows to places she knows or has a good mental picture of. When she's got access to all her power, she can manipulate shadows like I manipulate the air._

He then looked at Kazehana who was looking at Buffy with a slightly uncomfortable look before it turned surprised, looking at Tobias. The dark haired woman then looked at her like she was reevaluating her before smiling and nodding. 'What the hell is with these three?' Buffy wondered as she saw the changing expressions, knowing it was in no way normal. But that could wait until later as the shadows made a circle again and Yahan lifted out of it, a duffle bag over her shoulder. She dropped and unzipped it, shifting through whatever was inside before she found what she wanted and took it out.

It was a sword, but it wasn't any kind of sword Buffy had seen. Whenever she used them they were normal swords from the middle Ages. Straight, silver, had a guard and a hilt. This sword had a hilt, but it looked like it was made of black metal and etched with silver flowing marks, like air currents, and it was in a sheath that was similarly decorated, but the black was...blacker. Yahan offered it to Tobias, who took it with a wide smile before grabbing the hilt and pulling the blade part way from the sheath. The metal of the blade wasn't silver like she was expecting, but tinged green with razor sharp edges. Tobias nodded and placed the sword back in its sheath fully, looking like he had gotten his equivalent of her stake. That is, a weapon he knew inside and out and that had gotten him out of giant messes.

_I need you two to head over to the university and check on a friend. The Gentlemen killed someone there and I don't want you seen by any of the commandos yet. Her name is Willow Rosenberg, red hair, brown eyes, in room 214 in Stevenson Hall. If she doesn't seem to trust you, tell her 'the spirit doesn't really have a name. It just is.' She'll know what it means. _Tobias wrote, looking at his girlfriends.

The both nodded before Yahan zipped up the bag, put it over her shoulder, and linked hands with Kazehana as they vanished into another shadow hole.

Tobias looked at Buffy as his stake flew into his free hand. He smirked slightly. _Shall we go hunting?_

Buffy returned the smirk before they both sprinted in the direction the henchmen had ran.

**A/N: Whew, longer chapter but it wrapped up nicely. Tobias and his girlfriends reunited and they're going to check on Willow while Tobias and Buffy go monster slaying. Next chapter will try to wrap up the episode and it'll be up as soon as possible. In the meantime, review and favorite!**


	13. Hush Part 4

Tobias and Buffy caught up with the henchmen and followed him to an abandoned clock tower, pushing in the door and running inside.

_Window!_ Tobias wrote as they approached at a run. Buffy got what he meant and jumped through the boarded up window, the old wood cracking like rotten toothpicks as her speed broke through them. Tobias followed and took a quick look.

Metal shelves full of various metal containers, mostly cleaning stuff that looked like it had been there for a few years. Tarps, metal barrels, some scaffolding all scattered all over the place and a staircase that went into the actual clock mechanism near the back wall. There were also three henchmen inside, the one that they had followed and two more who were attacking a man that was on the ground. He didn't see his face but his vest and gear showed military.

'Guess the commandos were trying to find a solution to this too.' Tobias thought before he drew his sword, flipping his sheath into a forward facing grip and using it as a club to knock off one of him while Buffy got the one they had been chasing. That was half the reason he'd sent Kazehana and Yahan to campus, despite the fact that he knew the main base was there. With people panicking, the commanders of the base would've sent soldiers in civilian clothes to calm the masses, ergo, there would be few if any commandos there.

The unknown man managed to force the last one off him and into a wall before grabbing a rifle of some sort from a corner. Tobias quickly stabbed his through the heart, Buffy kicked hers away and they both spun, the former pointing his now bloodied sword at the unknown man while Buffy grabbed her cross bolt and pointed it. The man made the same move and pointed his gun at Buffy, then they all froze as they took in each other's faces.

The mystery man was Riley.

Riley's eyes looked at Buffy for a few seconds before they flicked to Tobias and then his sword. The teen was glad that in this instance he still had his green eyes instead of his silver while he was examining Riley's gun. It wasn't a typical fire bullets type, but it had a pointed cone at the business end and he faintly heard an electric buzz. A long range stun gun maybe?

He heard something behind him and reacted on instinct, spinning and swinging his sword, cutting off the head of the henchman that had been getting up behind him. Buffy had another one coming from behind her before Riley fired his gun, electricity jumping from the end with a _zap_ to strike it and send it to the ground as it twitched. Finally, the last one behind Riley was taken care of by Buffy, as she charged around him and punched it, ducking under his attack before knocking its legs out and kicking it before it hit the ground, sending it smashing into the shelving against the wall so hard the thin metal bent under the pressure.

'This is going to be a pain later.' Tobias thought privately as he saw Riley look between the demon and the slightly smaller woman.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tobias wasn't the only one dealing with pain, but Willow's was more a strained or pulled muscle in her right ankle then a potential boyfriend of Buffy's finding out about her.

She had been in her dorm studying since the meeting of the Scooby Gang, trying her best to bury her guilt and anxiety of invading one of her friend's privacy with research on the Internet for a way to get back their voices. She guessed she must've dozed off at some point, because she had woken to the sound of knocking that could be heard down the hall. She had hesitated then checked, only to get plowed into by somebody and get the pain in her ankle as a result. When she had looked, she had seen it was the girl from her Wicca group, Tara. A look down the hall had revealed why she was running so fast, because two of the Gentlemen and a few lackeys had been chasing her. So that led to their current predicament, running down the stairs away from the two henchmen, Tara supporting her since she couldn't put much weight on her injured side until they reached the bottom of the staircase and ran through the door that led to the laundry room on campus. They quickly locked the door and pushed against it as it started rattling and thumping on the other side.

Willow tapped Tara's shoulder and pointed at a small soft drink dispenser that was in the room for students. They abandoned the door and tried to push it so it would block the door, but after a few seconds of pushing and moving it a few inches, Willow had to stop. Her ankle hurt too much and she sat against one of the dryers, hissing slightly as she held it and Tara knelt at her side.

Willow knew she was going to have to try something different and called on her magic, focusing solely on the machine in an attempt to move it. She had managed to move pencils and the like, but now she was pushing harder than ever before to try and move something a lot bigger than a piece of wood and graphite. The machine started shaking as she felt it move an inch before it stopped and she felt her magic slip away.

The redhead panted slightly. It wasn't any good. She didn't have enough control or enough power to move something that big and heavy and she hadn't been able to go farther in her training without anyone to talk to or read.

She felt fingers gently brush hers and looked at the source. Tara was looking at her with eyes that were curiously determined, seemingly light for within. She intertwined her fingers with Willow, who got a funny tingle in her stomach as she felt the warm and smooth skin of the girl she was holding hands with. The sounds of the demons pounding on the door faded away as Willow then felt something weirder than the tingle in her arm and hand, which felt like a mild buzz. She looked back at Tara, the blondes brow slightly lined in concentration before the redhead felt her magic suddenly expand, far stronger than she had ever been able to conjure before that power was sucked into the hand she was holding. The power was molded and compressed before both woman snapped their heads to the machine.

With a screech of metal against the floor, it slid across the floor and slammed against the door, blocking it.

Willow took a breath as she felt the power fade away, her gaze returning to her and Tara's hands and then the face of the woman herself. Tara did the same thing before their eyes met. The instant they did she felt a small jolt in the back of her head and heat shot up and down her spine before it spread through her body, leaving her warm. She was still in a bit of shock from what had happened and the feeling was ignored, but Willow knew that Tobias had been right about Tara. She wasn't like the others in the group. She was a witch, just like her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the banging at the door stopped with two sickening _SNAPS _followed by two small thuds. The two witches looked at the door as the machine was pushed out and to the side with the same metallic screech. There was a click and the door opened, Willow tensing as it did.

The two from Tobias's sketchbook came through and instantly locked eyes with Willow. The one she remembered was called Kazehana wrote on a white board she was carrying with her before showing it. _Are you Willow Rosenberg?_

Willow slowly nodded, ignoring Tara's look as Yahan wrote on her own whiteboard. _Tobias sent us to help. He also said to tell you 'the spirit doesn't have a name. It just is.'_

The redhead relaxed as she saw the words he had told her, and only her, on that day he had first astral projected and nodded, wincing as her ankle throbbed again. Tara helped support her and get her on her feet. She hopped and saw that the two that had been chasing them sprawled on the floor, their heads turned and something poking underneath their skin signaled broken necks. They stepped around them and went back upstairs, heading for her room to patch her up.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Back at the clock tower, Tobias ducked under a swipe before he swung his sheath overhead, smashing it into the head of one of the last henchmen on ground level to leave a sizable dent in its head. He smashed it once more and it fell to the ground in a heap. Between him, Buffy, and Riley, they had made short work of the ones that had come from outside, maybe patrolling the property. He didn't know and it didn't matter, all that matter was that the five that had come in were now dead or knocked out. He could take responsibility for more of the dead ones though, since Buffy and Riley had stuck with beating their opponents until they stayed down.

Riley was surprisingly good. He wasn't on the same level of strength as him or Buffy, but he made up for it with technique and using any and all tricks he could. He also saw military training in his moves, but he only knew that because he knew what it looked like. He didn't personally use it, he found it too rigid for his tastes. But regardless, the two henchmen on the ground around him from being beaten into submission said he was good. Buffy had used her Slayer strength and training to do the same basic thing and had two on the ground as well.

Tobias cleaned his sword of the blood on one of the strait jacketed bodies and ignored Riley's once-over of him before pointing up, looking at Buffy. She nodded and led the way, Tobias keeping his sword and sheath at the ready while Riley was holding his electric gun tightly.

The inside of the clock tower was composed of gears, ropes and pulleys, with bag of sand tied up here and there. Metal grates were put over the long iron rods that were turned, which turned gears and turned the clock, which they could see the face of backwards in the dirty and clouded glass. Tobias, however, looked instantly at the table in the center of the small room.

A table was set up, with seven glass jars arranged in a semicircle around a box and some medical tools, mainly scalpels. Five of the seven jars had human hearts in them, three of them looking fresher than the other two. Tobias took a quick moment to mourn those whose lives had been cut short by the Gentlemen before his instincts told him to look to the right, one of the darker corners of the room.

The Gentlemen, seven of them, were all standing there and smiling their doll smiles. They weren't all the same. Differing heights, facial structures, weight, but they were clearly all the same kind of demon. And their dead eyes didn't show the least bit of worry, but...triumph and, smugness?

'Why would...' His breath caught in his throat and he fired a quick Air Pulse to check his suspicions, thankful Riley was at his back so he wouldn't see his eyes change. He then spun and saw what his Pulse had confirmed. Three henchmen, most likely the last of them, were right behind them, having hidden in a small shadowed place just big enough to hold them. Tobias didn't have time to warn Riley before they all charged and smashed into him, which caused the domino effect, the guys knocked to the ground while Buffy was pushed into the table.

Said blonde grunted as she collided with the furniture hip first and had to put a hand on the surface to steady herself. She took a quick look at the things on it, having been looking around the room rather than what was on the table, but her eyes widened when she saw the box. It was the same one from her vision.

Puzzle pieces fitted together in her head. The box was what their voices were in, that was the only thing that made sense. If she could open it, then the voices should come back to the owners. She grabbed it tried to open the top but it would budge. So that left opinion two, smashing it.

She heard something whiz through the air behind her and whirled around, grabbing it. She felt cold metal and took a look to see it was Tobias's sheath. He was looking at her, a henchmen with a hole in its chest at his feet, and shouted 'Do it!' Buffy dropped the box on the floor, grabbed the sheath in both hands, and plunged it down, shattering the thin wood.

A cloud of white exploded out of it, separating into wisps that flew through walls and scattered all over town while three broke off and entered the mouths of the humans there with a gasp. Buffy and Tobias linked eyes and did the same thing.

They screamed.

As the sound filled the room and kept going, the Gentlemen started shaking like ten thousand volts was going through their bodies as their hands went to their ears. After a few seconds, they all snapped straight like soldiers at attention, their sick grins still in place as their heads exploded into a mess of green goop.

They all stared at the bodies that were now covered in demon gore before Tobias spoke his opinion. And not wrote in the air, but spoke.

"That's disgusting." His voice was scratchy and hoarse from disuse. He coughed a few times to clear his throat and put a hand on his chest. "Oh, that's better." He then noticed that Buffy and Riley were looking only at each other. "Um, I have some...things to...check. So I'll just take this..." He plucked his sheath from Buffy's slack hands, shook off the blood from his blade, and sheathed it. "And be on my way." He then slipped down the stairs and left the two alone to...stare at each other.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Three minutes of flying later and he was knocking on the door to Willow and Buffy's dorm room. It opened up to show Kazehana. Behind her Yahan was sitting on Buffy's bed while Willow had her right leg stretched out and ice on her ankle.

Tobias pulled Kazehana into a hug and just enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. After a few months, it had been too long since he'd held her.

"Missed you." He whispered into her ear.

"Missed you too." She whispered back before they kissed briefly and she let him in. He made it three steps before Yahan hurled herself into his arms.

"Ohf," he grunted as the breath was forced out of his lungs by her hug. "Yahan, kinda need to breath." He said, but he still hugged her.

"Sorry," she mumbled, loosening her grip but didn't stop her hug. After a few seconds, they shared a kiss as well. She moaned slightly and he felt her tongue probe, asking permission. He pulled back and gave her a look.

"We're not doing that in front of one of my friends."

Yahan grumbled. "Party-pooper."

He sighed but he was happy she could still joke and looked at Willow. "You ok, Willow?" He asked, nodding at her leg.

"Yeah, it's fine. Just pulled something but it should be ok in the morning." She winced slightly a she moved it to a more comfortable position. "So, uh..." She looked at the two girls, his arm still around Yahan's waist.

"Hhm? Oh, right, right, introductions. Um, girls, this is Willow Rosenberg, she's a witch and one of my friends. Willow, these are my girlfriends Kazehana, and Yahan." He nodded at Kazehana and squeezed Yahan's waist.

"Girl_friends_?" Willow asked incredulously.

Tobias sighed. He was going to be getting that a lot. "Yes, as in two."

"Um...ok." Willow didn't know what to think of that, but she decided to just roll with it. When had Tobias done anything normal when it came to his personal life? "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you two."

"Same." Kazehana smiled back. "By the way, nice job with the soda machine."

"Oh, th-that wasn't me. It..." Willow stuttered off before she stopped, blushing slightly.

"She gets like that when you compliment her. But otherwise she's good company and a great friend." Willow's blush darkened at Tobias's comment. "See, there she goes."

"Cute." Yahan smiled. "I think we'll get along just fine. So," she flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked at Tobias. "What now? And what was with the no voices thing?"

"I'll explain everything later. In the meantime, I guess we'll go back to Joyce's. Willow, Buffy is fine but when she comes back, she may be a bit...shell-shocked."

"Did something happen?" She asked worriedly.

"Um, kind of." Tobias scratched his neck. "You remember those commandos we were keeping an eye out for? Turns out Riley might be one of them."

"What!? Ow!" Willow winced as her shout jerked her ankle.

"Yeah I didn't know what to make of that either. But thought I should give you a heads up. So, I'll be around if you need me, just call Buffy's house, ok?" Willow nodded dumbly. "Ok then. Ready?"

"Sure. Where we heading?" Yahan asked, picking up the duffel bag on the bed beside her.

"1630 Revello Drive." Tobias responded, taking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. The trio left the room and the redhead witch sitting on her bed, trying to process the information she had been given.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Joyce, I'm home!" Tobias called as they walked through the door.

"Nice place." Yahan said, looking around.

"It is. Gets a little boring sometimes but around Sunnydale that can quickly change. Also, take your shoes off."

"You sounded domestic just now." Kazehana teased.

"I've been here a few months, it rubs off on you." He shrugged. "Joyce, you home?"

"Tobias?" One of the lights upstairs flicked on and the woman came down the stairs, tying a bathrobe closed, yawning as she did. "Are you ok? I got worried when..."

The blonde stopped when she noticed Kazehana and Yahan standing next to him.

"Tobias, who are these girls?" She asked, now looking wide awake.

'Oh great.' Tobias thought. Now he got to explain his girlfriends to someone who had been a mother figure during the time he had been here. With a sigh, he said, "Why don't a seat in the living room?"

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"...and that the entire story." Tobias wrapped up, Kazehana and Yahan on either side of him on the couch while Joyce was sitting in a chair across from them. It had taken two hours to tell the entire story because he didn't even have his girlfriend's side of it and they had to fill him in at parts. He could tell they left out things but he had a decent idea on what those things were and didn't push. But Joyce got the story of the Gentlemen, how they'd been researching them the past few days before finding their base tonight and killing them, giving everyone's voices back.

"Sounds like Sunnydale." Joyce sighed. You think you've figured out this insane town and then it just throws something new at you to make you doubt that. "But Buffy is ok?" She asked, motherly instincts kicking in.

"She fine. She's most likely back at her dorm now sleeping." Tobias's reassured her before shifting slightly. "Um, Joyce I had a favor to ask." She cocked her eyebrow but otherwise didn't say anything. "Well...until I can find my own place, I was...wondering if Kazehana and Yahan could stay here." he finished in a rush. It was hilarious how he could face down vampires and demons without flinching, but now he was a nervous wreck asking Joyce if his girlfriends could stay with him in her house.

Joyce pursed her lips and tapped her index finger on her arm. She had become a flexible woman upon learning her daughter was the Slayer and then learning what things she had to do as the Slayer. After throwing her daughter out and telling her to not come back, which she wasn't proud of, but she had been scared. Finding out her little girl was fighting the things that went bump in the night every day since she had turned fifteen had twisted her views until she couldn't see her own flesh and blood as anything but the monsters she fought. They'd made up, but that experience taught her not to jump to conclusions and make rash decisions that she'd later regret. So she looked over Tobias and his girlfriends before speaking, wanting to get as much information as she could.

Tobias looked well and truly nervous, which she found slightly amusing considering the story he had just told her. Kazehana and Yahan both seemed unbothered by her lack of response, but the pair also had their slight differences that she could only pick out because she was a mother who had learned to see through Buffy's lies. Kazehana seemed to be calm enough but Yahan looked slightly bored as they waited for an answer, with a spark of playfulness buried underneath the boredom that seemed to be a small part of her personality, since Buffy had a similar one.

Joyce found it strange that they both his girlfriends and that both seemed perfectly fine with it, but in Sunnydale you either accepted strangeness or buried your head in the sand and ignored it. With a sigh, the blonde reached her verdict.

"Until you find a place they can stay here, but they'll be your responsibility and I expect them to behave in my house."

Tobias's shoulders sagged and he had to stop a sigh of relief from escaping his mouth. "I'll make sure they don't break anything." He promised. He stifled a yawn, feeling tired from finding the Gentlemen's hideout after hours of patrolling and then fighting. "I'm going to hit the sack. Also, if it's ok, Kazehana and Yahan will be sleeping in my room. And don't worry," he cut off her response, knowing she'd point out the bed in his room was too small to fit three people. "I've got a solution to the space problem already." He flashed his silver eyes to give her a hint of how he intended to do that. Joyce sighed and nodded, wondering how life had gotten so complicated for her and her family, before bidding the three good night and going back upstairs to bed.

"She just reminded me of Miya." Yahan said off-handedly as she watched the woman go.

"Yeah, but she's not as bad as Miya was when it came to house rules and 'proper' behavior." Tobias told her before standing up. "Come on, I'll show you where we're sleeping."

He led the way upstairs and opened the door to them, giving a mock bow that made them both smirk in amusement before they entered, looking around the room.

"Very nice," Yahan said, sitting down on the bed as Tobias dropped the duffle bag next to her. "A bit small and normal, but otherwise it's a nice place."

Kazehana nodded in agreement before she noticed his sketchbook on the desk and picked it up, flipping to the first page. Needless to say she was surprised when she saw herself staring back at her, but the surprise was replaced by a hint of sadness as she examined the picture. The two on the next pages only made the emotion more apparent and Tobias noticed it. He took the book out of her hands and gave her a small hug that he knew she needed. He felt her arms slip around his midriff and breathed in the scent that could only come from Kazehana. It was sakura flowers and something that he could never name, but it was something that belonged solely to her.

"Two weeks..." She mumbled in his shoulder.

Most people would wonder what that meant but Tobias just nodded and said back, "Two months. Give or take a few weeks." He ran his hand up and down her back to help calm her down before deciding to comment. "I can't believe you dyed your hair."

She leaned back to fix a firm look on him. "What's wrong with dying my hair?"

"Aside from the fact it's different, I thought you liked how your hair looked as its natural color. I know I did."

She smiled, looking a bit happier and teasing. "Well, I wanted to blend in a bit more when we arrived and I thought my hair color would be a bit of a giveaway."

Tobias snickered. "Oh trust me, you'll find people can forget things very easily in this town. Mostly because they want to." He yawned and pulled out of his hug with his girlfriend. "It's late. And I need to do a few things tomorrow, so why don't we talk in the morning?"

"Sounds good." Kazehana nodded.

"Oh!" Yahan snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot!" She opened and dug through the bag before pulling out a black wallet and handing it to him. "Dante said to give you this."

Tobias took it and flipped it open to see a blank sheet of paper on the inside. He cocked his eyebrow before checking the money compartment and saw it was full of several twenties.

"Let me guess, dimensionally transcendental wallet?"

"Yep. He said that should take of any money problems we might over here in case we decided to stay for a while. The paper is just something extra. And..." She dug through and pulled out one more thing. "...he made this."

It was a long, silver tube with a button on the side and a slightly telescopic end that had a black crystal on the end. Tobias took it and pressed the button, a whirr filling the room while the crystal light up on the need. He stopped pressing the button and sighed.

"Really? He gave me one that looks like this?"

"Yeah, he said it was one of the 'cooler ones' or something like that," Yahan quoted. "Also he said he programmed it himself, so just point and click."

Tobias sighed again and set the device on the desk. He needed some sleep, badly. So with that in mind, he focused his powers on making a mattress out of air and laid down on it, looking up at the ceiling.

He heard some springs creaking in the bed before two weights pressed down on either side of him, followed by warmth. With a small smile, he closed his eyes and absently turned off the room lights before he sank into sleep, content that his loved ones were with him again.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The next morning Tobias woke up to find himself alone. He instantly frowned and sat up, looking around the room. He was alone and reached for the bonds he had with his girls in his head, relaxing as he felt that they were both downstairs. He got up, showered, and dressed himself in black jeans and a short sleeve shirt like normal before going to the kitchen.

"Morning." The girls smiled from the counter as they saw him enter. They were eating a bowl of cereal each and Tobias saw they had changed their clothes. Yahan was wearing a yellow shirt that had a slight v in the front, dipping down and showing a slight hint of cleavage, but not enough to be indecent. The ensemble was finished by blue jeans that hugged her hips and stopped at her thighs. Kazehana was wearing a light blue long sleeve shirt that hung loosely around her frame and jeans that looked plain but she somehow made it look attractive.

"Morning," he said. "I got worried when you weren't upstairs."

"Thought we'd let you sleep. You were tired." Yahan shrugged before taking a spoonful of her breakfast. "So, what plans did you have for today?" She asked through her mouthful.

"Heading over to campus. I want to check up on everyone, maybe check on Riley to see how he's reacting to seeing me and Buffy."

"Listen to you. You sound like you're planning to take on the government." Kazehana teased.

Tobias snorted. "We've got a lot of things to cover before I go."

So he grabbed something to eat, sat down, and started talking.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"You were there looking for me?" Willow asked Tara. School had pulled itself together surprisingly quick if you didn't know that this town was nothing if not resilient. And a town wide disability of speaking wasn't even in the top one hundred weirdest things that had happened in the past few years. Willow had been fine, her muscle having just been pulled and now was healed. She'd gone through her first through classes before she had run into Tara and they had started talking.

"I thought m-maybe we could do a spell," Tara explained as they took a seat in one of the common areas. "Make people talk again. I-I'd seen you in the group, the Wicca group. You...you were different than them. I mean...they didn't seem to know..."

"What they were talking about?" Willow laughed. Tara smiled and nodded shyly.

"I think if they saw a witch, they would um, run the other way." She agreed.

"How long have you been practicing?" Willow asked. Tara was powerful, she could tell that from last night. How she had drawn on her power and then used it was far beyond her capabilities.

"Always." Tara responded. "I mean...since I was little. My mom used to..." Tara trailed off before trying again. "She um, she had a lot of power. Like you."

"Oh, I'm not...I'm..." Willow stuttered. "I don't have, much in the way of power. Really," she said, seeing Tara's doubtful look. "I mean, most of potions come out soup. Besides, spells going awry, friends in danger. I'm definitely nothing special." She dismissed herself.

"No, you are." Tara said, looking at Willow with eyes that said she absolutely believed what she was saying. Willow blinked before smiling. It felt good to have someone say that about her, instead of belittling her like she had been in high school. Plus seeing that smile on Tara's face was nice. It felt...good.

She looked at her watch. "I gotta go, my next class. But, I'll see you around?" Willow asked hopefully.

Tara smiled and nodded. Willow's smile widened before she walked away, Tara watching her go wistfully.

"That was a very nice thing you said."

The blonde witch jumped and looked at the seat where Willow had been sitting. The seat was now occupied by Tobias. His hands were tented and his legs crossed as he watched his friend go. "I don't believe we've officially met. I'm Tobias." He offered his hand.

Tara looked at it before her eyes flicked back to him. "Y-you're not here."

Tobias smirked and slowly withdrew his hand. "Well, you're technically right. I'm not here in the physical sense, but I've never been normal." To prove his point he leaned forward and grabbed a random magazine from the table before dropping it. "Don't worry, I'm just here to talk." He said, seeing Tara's mixture of disbelief from what he'd just done and nervousness which he guessed was part of this girl's nature.

He'd decided to show Kazehana and Yahan his astral form after spending the past few hours giving them the important information about Sunnydale. So, vampires, demons, the occasional apocalypse that according to Buffy seemed to strike once a year or so and the Scooby Gang were all covered before he'd gone all spiritual. Both had been shocked before Yahan had tested it by sticking her hand through his chest where his heart should've been. She then joked she had his heart. His response of "you two already had it" made them blush which he took as a good sign. Right now they were back at the house with his real body looking around the property, but he'd made them both promise he would not come back to see his face had been drawn on.

"Y-you were there. T-that day in Wicca group."

"Yeah." Tobias grimaced. "I wasn't feeling my best that day and I needed something to get out of my depression. It worked too, since I noticed you looked right at me. Gave me the hint you were, as you said, different."

Tara nodded slightly. "W-what are you? I can t-tell you're a spirit, but n-not like any I've read about."

Tobias chuckled. "Well, I guess I'm like everything else in this little town. I'm different. And I noticed those looks you were giving Willow, plus I heard the compliment."

"W-what l-l-looks?" Tara stutter was worse and she blushed slightly.

Tobias gave a sly smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell. But can I ask you for a small favor?" He asked, turning serious.

Tara slowly nodded.

"Keep helping Willow. That little compliment really made her feel good. I want you to keep helping build self-esteem. I can't do it like you can, none of her other friends can. Just...make her happier." He got a small smile and firm nod from Tara, which Tobias returned. "Thanks. Also, I have to attach a vague disclaimer to this. With that being said, if you hurt Willow, I will make you wish you had never even heard of me. Ok?" He got another, shakier nod from the pale faced witch. "Good. Don't do that and we'll get along just fine. Now," he stood up, stretching his arms out of habit then need to stretch his muscles. "I have some appointments to get to, but I was serious about helping Willow. I care about my friends and want them happy."

He didn't wait for a response as he vanished, leaving Tara alone in the common room with her fellow students.

**A/N: And that's a wrap. Tobias is partially exposed to the military, his girlfriends are with him, and this chapter is wrapped up. Now next one is going to be mostly Tobias's POV (Point Of View for those of you who don't know what that means) since he's got two big parts of his life back. Also, did anyone pick up on the mentions and descriptions of the things Yahan gave him? If you did, then I salute you. If not, I'll be explaining them in time but not for a while.**

**So, tune in next time for the chapter, Doomed Part 1. And don't forget to favorite, follow, and review.**


	14. Doomed part 1

Tobias wasn't the only one having a conversation with someone. Buffy was sitting awkwardly on her bed, looking down at the floor or at the walls before her eyes flicked towards the source of her discomfort. Riley, sitting opposite of her on Willow's bed.

The blonde didn't know what to do. After last night, she and Riley had just...parted ways when they got back to campus. They didn't talk, which was somewhat understandable. How do you talk to someone who just found out that you're not normal, and when you found out they weren't normal? The issue was compounded by the fact that they both liked each other. She didn't remember exactly what she'd done when she got back to her room last night, but she had vague memories of talking to Willow for a few minutes about something and then going to bed.

She'd been trying to keep herself busy and then Reilly had shown up at her dorm room. He said they needed to talk, and she had agreed. So, now they were sitting and waiting for the other to speak.

"Somebody should speak before one of us graduates." Buffy decided to be the one to break the silence. Riley looked up and their eyes met before he got off the bed with a deep breath. He slowly walked like he was trying to decide what to say before stopping a few feet from the foot of her bed. At least that's what her ears told her, she was looking at the floor.

"What are you?"

Buffy looked at his serious face. "Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius, you?" She snipped.

"Sorry," he said, sensing he had offended her, if her tone hadn't done that first. "That came out a little blunter than I intended. It's just... You're amazing." He moved to stand in front of her again. "Your speed, your strength..."

"Also passionate, artistic, and inquisitive." She cut him off, not wanting to hear praise. She'd had enough of people doing that, making the Slayer sound like a good thing without any strings attached. There were more strings than she liked attached to her "gifts." "Who are you?" She asked.

He scoffed. "You know who I am. The rest...what I do," he sighed. "I can't tell you."

Buffy stood up. "Well then let me." She said, putting her hands in her back pockets as she started to pace. "You're part of some military monster squad that, capture demons, vampires." She said, starting to build on what Tobias had said about the military being behind the commandos. "You probably have some official sounding euphemisms for them," She added thoughtfully. "Like, un-friendly's...or non-sapiens..."

"Hostile sub terrestrials." Reilly corrected her.

"So, you deliver these...HST's to a bunch of lab coats, who perform experiments on them, which, among other things, turn some into harmless little bunnies." She was referring to Spike in that count. "How am I doing so far?"

"A little, too well." He said slowly, looking at her. She ignored him to keep going.

"Meanwhile, by day, you pretend to be Reilly Finn. Corn fed Iowa boy." He looked away as she asked, "Ever been to Iowa Reilly? God, if that's even your name." She scoffed, looking away. Why couldn't she had a nice, normal relationship with someone normal? Why did they always have to have some secret, like being a two-hundred-year-old vampire with a soul, or some schmuck who was just looking for a one night stand, hey, being in the military? Was she cursed or something? No wait, scratch that, of course she was. The 'one girl in all the world, standing against the vampires alone' crap that comes from being the Slayer.

"It is. Born and raised." The TA told her. "Hey, a bulletin: I'm on the only one who's been a little less than honest here."

Buffy clutched her hands together and sat down on her bed. "I thought a professional demon chaser are like yourself would've figured it out by now." She took a moment to prepare herself before she uttered the three words she had wanted to say for a while now. "I'm the Slayer."

Riley's face didn't change. If anything he looked like he was waiting for her to get to the point.

"Slay-er. The Chosen One." Still nothing. "She who hangs out a lot in cemeteries? You're kidding." She said when he still didn't seem to recognize the term. She stood up and look him in the eye. "Ask around. Look it up. Slayer, comma, the." She said, looking out the window.

"And you fight demons? I mean, you whaled on those guys."

Buffy smiled slightly. "You did pretty well yourself."

"Yeah, but I'm a walking bruise today. You see with my clothes off, I look like a-" he stopped whatever he was going to say when he remembered Buffy's gender. "I mean, I have bruises. I don't see a scratch on you."

"You're not looking hard enough." She said, even it was true. Slayer healing at its finest. Now if only it could get rid of pesky scars.

"I'm looking pretty hard." Reilly said, looking at her face closely. Buffy felt a flush crept into her cheeks but willed herself to ignore how warm that comment made her feel as she looked back. Finally they broke eye contact. "So uh...what do we do?"

"I don't know. It's just..." She sighed. "I thought you were a nice, normal guy."

"I am a nice, normal guy."

"By this towns standards, but I'm not grading on a curve." Buffy said, making Reilly look away. "I-I think we both need a little time. To process everything. Maybe then-"

"Yeah." She looked up to see Reilly nodding. "Yeah, I-I think that's a good idea."

It was a good idea, but it still felt like a knife had been stabbed through her heart. They had been making progress, but now it was all put on hold because they had found out each other's secrets. She also figured Reilly seeing Tobias with her last night didn't help. It was weird he hadn't asked about him, but she figured he had other things on his...

"Who was that guy? Last night, with the...old fashioned sword?"

Damn it karma!

"Just a friend who helps out from time to time. Not like a friend friend," she said hurriedly, not wanting to lose Reilly entirely. "Just a, slay-y friend that arrived in town recently."

"And you just let a civilian come along?" Reilly asked in disbelief.

"He's proved his worth more than once." Though Buffy neglected to explain that proving his worth involved beating her, breaking a binding spell and killing a newborn vampire like it had been as easy as breathing. "And I recommend staying away from him. For your safety."

"I'll keep that in mind." Reilly said, but he clearly wasn't happy as he turned and started walking towards the door. "Oh," he stopped and turned around. "I don't think I need to tell you-"

"I won't say a word." She promised.

"Good. It'll be safer for all..." He trailed off as the small rat that she and Willow kept in a cage in their dorm room started squeaking and rattling the cage. The two looked at each other in confusion before the building suddenly started shaking and rumbling filled the air. "Over here!" Reilly said urgently, grabbing Buffy and putting them in the doorway of the closet as objects fell of the shelves. A few seconds later, the earthquake settled and silence filled the air.

"Wow. That was some ride," Reilly said, excited as he looked around the room. Buffy didn't seem to notice as she slowly walked to the middle of the room. "Sorry, it's just...this my first earthquake."

Buffy faintly heard his apology but otherwise she was trying to deal with the sudden well of dread and foreboding that had opened up in her. Even if California got earthquakes every once and a while, this one felt different...Like a warning.

"It's not mine."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Everyone ok?" Tobias asked as he set everyone down on the floor.

"Yeah. That was weird." Yahan muttered as she looked around.

"Well, it's California and we're on top of a Hellmouth. It's the Devils etch a sketch." Kazehana pointed out.

Tobias had come back from his small meeting with Tara and, after making sure he didn't have marker on his face, had been telling some of the stories he had gotten in his time here, and had just been telling them about Buffy and Spike's marriage plans in the kitchen before the quake had struck. He had instantly focused his powers and lifted them a few inches off the ground while making an orb of solidified air to protect them. Aside from the few things that had fallen, there was no harm done to anything and they were quickly floated back to their proper spots.

"That's a cherry way of looking at." Tobias grumbled, even if it was accurate. "So getting back on more positive thoughts, how were things back home before you left?"

"Well, River was understandably frantic and calling in everyone." Yahan started.

"Let me stop you right there. River...was frantic? What or who was broken when she was calling?" Tobias asked with a smirk.

"Well, let's see," Kazehana started ticking things off on her fingers. "She broke the lock on the door to the TORCHWOOD facility and by broke, I mean she soniced it and the thing was completely fried. She had hunt down Dante and when she did, she had to drag him out of one of the labs he was in. I'm not kidding either."

"She...dragged Dante out of a lab?" Tobias had to try hard not laugh at that image.

"He said he was busy with something and her response was to grab his ear and drag him out by it." Yahan explained.

He couldn't help it and his forehead hit the countertop as he burst out laughing.

"And then when she found him, he was busy trying to help a race that was in the middle of a revolution that he accidently started and she stopped everything in an hour. How, we're not entirely sure but we did hear a lot of screaming and yelling." Kazehana added, making him laugh harder while holding his stomach.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," he gasped. "What about Jack?"

Both girls smiled evilly. "When he tried to flirt with her, she said, and I quote, "Yahan cleared her throat. "'If you flirt with me right now, my gun will accidentally discharge into your crotch. Repeatedly.' Gwen and Tosh couldn't stop laughing."

He almost fell out of his chair as it felt like his side was about to break open from the force of his laughter. It took a few minutes to get it down to the occasional chuckle while wiping away a tear. That had been exactly what he'd needed these past few days, a good laugh with Kazehana and Yahan at his side and their emotions flowing through him via his bonds with them. It made the world seem brighter, and he was full of energy. Problem now was getting it out because if he didn't, he'd be restless.

"Hey," He leaned forward on the counter. "What do you two say to a run?"

"A run?"

Tobias smirked. "Well, when I say run I don't mean jogging or something. I mean going for a run."

"Oh," Kazehana nodded slowly, catching. "You mean that kind of run."

"Won't people notice us?" Yahan asked.

"Yes, but this place ignores the weirdness like Jack ignores gender when he's flirting. Besides, I need to get back my edge. Fighting vampires and demons only means I've been getting sloppy."

"Then sure, I'm up for it." The dark skinned girl nodded, Kazehana following.

They all got their shoes on and left the house, Tobias making sure he locked it behind them and walking down the walk.

"Ok then, just follow me and try to keep up."

"That sounded like a challenge." Yahan grinned.

"It was," He smiled back before it turned competitive. "So let's go." They got to the sidewalk and he start jogging before slowly picking up speed, the girls doing the same behind him before they were all going at a dead sprint approaching the end of the block. If anybody was looking out the window, they would've seen the trio approaching the end of the block in a run, but when they reached the end of it, they all suddenly blurred and were...just gone, with three barely noticeable blurs going down the street so fast one had to be looking for it to notice them for even a split second.

Tobias felt his senses open up as he let his restraint melt away, making it seem like everyone else was moving slower than him. The sensation only happened because his mind was able to keep up with his body at the moment. If a normal person was going at this speed, all they would see was a blur as everything flew past them. He sensed the girls were still behind him and decided to lead them on a little chase. He took a sharp turn and ran down the street before crouching and jumping, landing on a rooftop of a house and leaping from on to another. Sometimes it was the one next door, sometimes one across the street and three houses down or so.

'I forgot how liberating this felt!" He thought with an exhilarated smile on his face. Of course when Buffy and the others (who aside from Willow, still had to be made aware of Kazehana and Yahan's arrival) would chew him out, but keeping what he could really do a secret in this town was grating. When you could move so fast and had some much strength at your disposal it was hard to limit yourself. So now, he was making sure nobody could tell it was them while simply letting himself have some fun.

He noticed movement in the corner of his eye and look to his right to see Yahan was keeping pace with him while Kazehana was jumping up from street level to join them. They both had slightly condescending looks and amused smiles. Tobias took that as a challenge and decided to give them a real task. Eyes flashing silver as he tapped into his powers, he headed for downtown Sunnydale, the two close on his heels.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In downtown Sunnydale, everyone was going about their business shopping, working, and in the case of younger people, hanging out with friends and killing time. All except for one Alexander "Xander" Harris, who was walking out a pizza place in a uniform and carrying three boxes in his arms and not looking happy. So far he'd had to deal with the horrible manager always yelling at him to pick up the pace and delivering what he thought were crudtastic pizzas to dissatisfied customers for not being fast enough. He'd get wherever he needed in less than a half hour and still get a bad tip. But since Giles had made him take Spike when his friend Olivia had come into town, he had no choice but to get a second job so he had enough money. Not to mention the earthquake this morning had damaged the plumbing, but he had put Spike to work on that before he left.

'Wonder if anything else can go wrong today?' He grumbled in his head, forgetting the crucial lesson that experience had taught him.

You never, ever even thought those words, or they will come back to bite you in the ass. Sometimes in a matter of seconds.

He heard a small scream to the right and looked down the block to see...something, or something's, blurring through the streets and crowds so fast he couldn't properly see them. All he got was one was black, another yellow, and the last one blue, and all the color were in the upper body. As he watched, they zigged and zipped every which way, sometimes bouncing off the sides of buildings like runaway rubber balls. And they were also coming right for him!

He ducked quickly, one going right over his head while the other two were on either side. And he might have been imagining it due to the stress and sudden adrenaline in his system, but he thought he heard someone say, "Hey Xander," right over his head, but the sudden wind the three blurs kicked up muffled it. Then they were zooming past him and down the street on their bizarre and unpredictable path through the town and were out of sight. There was the confused and uneasy murmurs that followed shock, but nobody seemed to have been hurt or even touched. Soon they were going back to their business and the incident, like many stranger ones, was forgotten and dismissed. Xander, however, did not do that.

An earthquake this morning and now strange things bouncing around Sunnydale? Something was up. Once he could clock out, he was gathering the Gang and filling them in. In the meantime, he had to worry about the pizzas he had dropped and were face down on the street. With a sigh, he went back inside to get more. His boss was not going to be happy.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Can't catch me!" Tobias called over his shoulder as he flipped off the last tall rooftop in downtown Sunnydale and zoomed through one of the graveyards that were around.

"Cheater! You're using you powers!" Yahan called back as she came from the right, her hand extended. He quickly ducked under it and she went flying overhead.

"Never said I wouldn't!" He laughed as she bounced off one of the tombs. The "run" had quickly turned into a game of tag and the two girls had yet to even touch him, since his powers were letting him decrease air resistance around him so he could move faster, not to mention making slip streams so he was pushed forwards. But despite the cheating, the other two were keeping up because they knew how he moved and thought, and it was fun despite how childish it seemed. As he ducked jumped over another attempt from Yahan, he realized he didn't see Kazehana. Where was she?

Something slammed into his back and he went rolling in the grass before stopping face up, something straddling him. Once his vision stopped spinning, he saw Kazehana was smirking down at him.

"I think we caught you."

"So you did." He quipped back, but he was just taking her in. Dark hair that was blocking out the overhead sun like a halo, flawless skin, and a perfect face that had eyes of purple gazing into his own with love and passion that would scorch a normal soul.

He knew they were in a public place, a graveyard, but he didn't care. Tobias pulled her down and pressed his lips to hers and she eagerly returned the kiss, grabbing bunches of his hair while he hugged her close, relishing the feeling of her lips and body against his. Her tongue probed against his teeth and he granted access, letting her explore for a bit before he returned the favor and coaxed out a moan. They kept this up for a few minutes until the need to breath forced them to come up for air.

Kazehana's face was red and she was breathing heavily, but she still managed a sultry grin. "Nice to see you haven't lost your touch."

"With you two, never." He growled in a husky tone that sent a shiver up her spine and caused her arousal to resonate through their bond.

"I feel so left out." A false hurt voice came from their right. Both turned to see Yahan had a pout on her face that was clearly fake, since her eyes were sparkling with amusement. Tobias chuckled and gently pushed Kazehana off him before getting to his feet and pulling the dark skinned girl into a searing kiss as well. Yahan moaned and out her arms around his neck while his hands went to her hips. The same treatment that Kazehana had gotten was given to her until, again, need for air forced them apart.

"Better?" He asked lowly.

"Much," Yahan breathed back, opening her eyes. She then smirked slightly. "I can think of something better, though." She purred, running her hands down his chest suggestively.

"Sorry," he said, and he honestly was. "But until we can find our own place, I'm afraid that's off the table."

"Darn it," Yahan grumbled. "You're no fun."

"Hey, I not saying no because I want to, but Joyce has been a good host since I've stayed in her house and I doubt she'd like to find out what we're doing in it."

"Fine. But once we do...then everything is fair game." She whispered into his ear. He growled low in his throat and his grip tightened slightly as he felt her arousal mix with his.

"Yes it is." He agreed. Then he decided to mess with her. "But," he backed away quickly, leaving her blinking at the sudden distance between them. "Until then, we might want to stay away from each other. Otherwise your urges might cause us to something indecent in the middle of public." He grinned an innocent grin that was so perfect it was clearly fake.

Yahan blinked one more time before her eyes narrowed in anger. "You did that on purpose!" She pointed at him, referring to her currently...excited state.

"Hey," he held up his hands. "You started it. Don't blame me if the consequences are worse than you expected." He said reasonable.

"You...you... Gah!" She huffed, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks childishly. "I hate it when you channel Miya of all people."

"Hey, it's better than having her here isn't it?" Kazehana pointed out, causing the trio to shiver.

"Fine," Yahan conceded that point. She then sighed and looked around. "So what now?"

"Well," Tobias looked up at the sun to gauge the time. "I don't know about you two, but I could go for a bite to eat."

The two looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess lunch wouldn't be a bad idea." Yahan said and Kazehana nodded. "Know any good places to eat?"

"Not really. But let's go see what we find." He smiled before they blurred out of sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After stopping at a small mom-and-pop shop to purchase some sandwiches to eat, Tobias showed them around a bit more, more for something to do then anything. He also entertained them with stories of the few adventures he'd had here and told them about the rest of the gang, even Spike. But he also made sure they knew that when they met the blonde vampire, they could punch him when he got too annoying. He also noticed the inevitable looks being sent their way. Mostly lustful looks sent his girlfriend's way by every guy (and even some girls) they walked past. He knew they were attractive and they shared something that nobody else they were walking ever could, but it still grated on his nerves seeing people looking at them as pieces of meat instead of people.

"I think someone's jealous~." Yahan said in a sing-song voice as Tobias sent a glare at the latest guy who was looking appreciatively at her and Kazehana as they walked past.

"No, I'm irritated. Jealousy is being envious of what someone else has, irritation is being annoyed when someone does something that grates on your nerves."

"Tomato, tom-ato," Yahan dismissed. "Point is, you are glaring at every person who looks at us." She teased, slipping her hand into his and smiling teasingly.

"Maybe," he admitted.

Kazehana giggled and kissed him on the cheek before taking his other hand. "Don't worry, we still love you. Besides, I doubt anyone could keep up with your...stamina." She whispered into his ear.

"You two are going to keep throwing out innuendos, aren't you?" He sighed, but he wasn't irritated.

"It's been a while," Yahan shrugged. "Besides, after two weeks of worrying, I think we're entitled to at least that much time of teasing."

He sighed again. "Fair enough. Just don't do it when I introduce you to everyone, ok?"

"No promises." They chorused, identical grins on their faces.

He shook his head. Some days having two girlfriends that knew him inside and out was a dream come true. Others, a hell worse than anything Sunnydale had to offer.

"Speaking of the gang, why are you introducing us?" Kazehana asked.

"Soon," he evaded. "I'm just...trying to find the right time."

"Uh-hu." Yahan looked at him. "Like when?"

"I don't know," he groaned rubbing the bridge of his nose with both hands. "It's large, and complicated, and I've got other things to worry about too. I mean, they don't even know where I come from."

"Well, what did you tell them when you arrived?"

"That I was on a across the country trip and the bus stopped in here on the way to LA, but I lost my money, clothes, and ID so I was stuck until I got them back. Well, that's what I told everyone but Buffy."

"What did you tell Buffy?" Kazehana asked.

"Well, I didn't really get a chance to explain before she tried to put a stake in my heart."

"What!?"

"Apparently I came off as "demon-y" to her Slayer senses and she just reacted by trying to kill me."

Yahan and Kazehana growled. "We're having a small talk with Buffy the next time we see her." The former said while the latter nodded.

"No, don't worry about it, I kicked her ass before she even got close to killing me. Not that she'll admit that." He smirked. Really, it had just been easy to do, but that might be why Buffy doesn't admit it. He then looked up at the sky and saw it was much lower than earlier, casting long shadows. The day had passed by quickly without them even noticing. He was tempted to show them the Bronze, but decided to do it when he introduced them to the Gang. Plus, tonight just felt...off. Even more than normal. "Well, shall we head back to the house?" He suggested.

The girls agreed and found an alley to get out of sight before blurring out of sight. At the speed they could go, they arrived outside Buffy's house. After knocking, they let themselves in.

"That you Tobias?" Joyce called from the kitchen.

"Yeah it's us," he took off his shoes and walked into the kitchen, seating himself at the counter.

"So, did you have a nice day?" She asked as she finished cleaning up the kitchen and the girls sat down on either side, which she took in stride.

"It was ok. I just showed these two around town, told them about the unique things it offers."

The mother's eyes flashed up. "You...told them?"

Tobias nodded. "I trust them with my life Joyce. And they do the same. And I admit, I keep secrets sometimes, but this..." He snorted. "Well, they'd just find out on their own anyways."

"Yes we would!" Yahan declared proudly.

"See?" Tobias pointed at her.

Joyce was rather surprised that the girls were taking this so well. Most people would go running for the hills when they found out the things went bump in the night were real, but these two didn't seem care in the slightest. Tobias also seemed happier, so that was plus too.

The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. She grabbed it and pushed the answer button. "Hello? Oh, hello Giles, what can I...yes he's here. Ok, here he is." She then offered the phone to Tobias. "It's Giles."

Tobias got that from her talking, but he didn't say anything as he took the phone. "Y'ello?"

"Tobias. I was wondering if you could stop by my place at the earliest convenience, there are some pressing matters that need to be addressed."

"You do realize you could've just asked me to stop by instead of stretching that out into so many words, right?"

There was a pause for a few seconds, then a cough. "Um, quite."

Tobias smirked. It was always fun getting one over the old Watcher. "Ok, I'll be there in five seconds."

"Uh, actually, can you physically come over? I know astral projection comes rather easily to you, but I would prefer to talk to the actual you instead of your spirit. Besides, we don't know the potential side effects from constantly using it as you have."

Tobias very much there would be any side effects, ever, but he understood. Better to error on the side of caution than risk anything. "In that case, give me ten minutes."

"I'll be waiting your arrival."

Tobias hung up. "Some days I think Giles needs to relax and learn to just say what's on his mind." He handed the phone back to Joyce and stood. "In any case, he wants to see me. I'll be back soon."

"Be careful." Joyce told him.

"Aren't I always?" He joked.

Kazehana and Yahan snorted before the former asked, "Do we need to remind you about that time in Charleston?"

"Or Greece?" Yahan added.

"Or Athens?"

"Or hey, what about that time with your other half?"

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok! I get it, I'm not always careful." He grumbled. "Not like you two are much better."

"We never denied that." Kazehana smiled.

He shook his head and then gave both a quick kiss. "I'll see you later. Don't wait up."

He then got on his shoes, closed the door behind him and headed off to Giles's place, wondering what he wanted.


	15. Doomed part 2

Tobias was just walking into the courtyard of Giles's place of residence as he heard Buffy saying, "Oh, good. Because I'd hate for my little 'untimely horrible death' concern to be ambiguous."

He entered the courtyard to see buffy was sitting on one of the benches that were part of the building in a tan coat, red pants and had a small bead necklace on while Giles was sitting in a fold out chair and a table was set up in front of him. On it was a map of Sunnydale that had red tacks sticking out of it here and there.

He cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting something? Because I can always come back."

Buffy looked at him in surprise. She wasn't expecting anyone but Giles's to be here.

"What are you doing here?"

"Giles called me. What are you doing here?"

"I'm telling Giles why would should be taking the earthquake that happened earlier today seriously. It's a bad omen I'm telling you. Bad!"

"Ok," Tobias said slowly. "Giles, did you call me over here just so we could debate this?"

"No, this not why I called you over. Buffy arrived after I called you, and," he addressed the blonde-haired woman. "Buffy, until evidence suggests otherwise, I think we can assume that it's shifting land masses, and not important to some imminent doom."

Actually, Tobias kinda agreed with Buffy on this one. Giles was making some perfectly logical points, but his gut was telling him something was wrong, and he had learned to trust his gut. Because more often than not, his guts telling him something usually lead to them staying inside him and him being alive. However, until he had evidence, he'd keep quiet.

"Now, in the meantime, and the reason I called Tobias is, I've got a few theories about our commando friends." He continued, picking up his map to look at it.

Tobias shot Buffy a look and saw she was trying to keep an interested face without letting out her panic. "Oh. Really?" Her voice wavered ever so slightly and her eyes flicked to him. He silently zipped his mouth shut.

"Yes," Thankfully, the librarian didn't notice as he gestured at the cluster of red tacks. "Now, based on the locations of our various sightings, and uh...Spikes _reluctant _description of their underground installation..."

"What if the quake was a sign?" Buffy said, jumping to her feet. "A bad omen and we ignored it? There's going to be a lot of red faces when the world comes to an end." Clearly, she wanted to keep talking about this and move away from the Commandos.

"Buffy," Giles stood up. "If the quake heralded some such catastrophe, I'm sure others signs will follow which will afford us plenty of time to avert it." He lectured her gently, making her lower her eyes.

Tobias cleared his throat. "Well, if we assume that there have been sightings in all these places," he pointed at the largest cluster of tacks. "Then can assume that their underground base is right here, in the middle of the university, or near it."

"Exactly," Giles nodded. "And if that is the case, then I am convinced that one or more of them may be in our very midst."

"Plague!"

"What?" The duo said, looking at Buffy.

"What if the end of the world is coming in the form of a plague? Then too many people may be infected by the time we actually decide to..."

"Buffy! Will you please stop worrying about what may be, and concentrate on what is?" She opened her mouth, but was cut off by Giles raising a finger. "Vigilance is all well and good, but as I feel we are getting close, there is a much more pressing question."

Tobias felt this was a good time to intervene. "Can I throw my two cents?" He asked, and then kept going for an answer. "Now, Giles. I fully agree with your points, but I also have to ask how often an apocalypse comes to Sunnydale? And you are the expert, but those books you let me read all had a lot of them that had an earthquake as a sign. Plus...something just feels wrong."

Giles sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Very well, if it will put you both at ease, I will begin research into possible apocalypses."

"Thank you." Tobias said politely. "Now, getting back to the commandos, I might be able to help with that." He pointed at the map. "I have some minor sensing ability with my powers, which I might be able to use to at least tell if we're right or not. It's not the best and looking for something underground is tricky by itself, but I can give it a shot."

"Well, I suppose we can attempt it if you're willing. Could you do it tonight?" Giles asked.

He hesitated for a second. "Maybe. I have some things I'll need to do first, but I can try."

"Well, the sooner the better."

"I better get going then."

"I'll go too. Need to get back to campus." Buffy said. With a few more exchanges, the Slayer and the Airbender left Giles and started walking.

After they had gotten out of earshot, the latter stopped and looked at the former. "So, ask your questions."

The blonde stopped and crossed her arms as what could gently be put as an "unhappy" look crossed her face. "You owe me some answers."

"I owe you what I think I owe you, Summers." Tobias said coldly, not liking how she was demanding he explain himself. "And I will only be overlooking how you phrased that because I consider you a friend. Do that again, and I will tell you nothing else."

"Sorry," she apologized, realizing she had sounded a bit demanding there. "Can I get a do over?"

He smiled slightly. "Because you said sorry, sure."

"Ok," she took a breath. "Those two girls from last night. You said they were your...girlfriends?"

Tobias simply said, "Yes."

"Named Kazehana and Yahan."

"Yes."

"And both have supernatural powers?"

"Powers, yes, supernatural in origin, no." He corrected her. "They've both had their abilities since they were born, just like I have."

"Ok. Are they...like you?" She asked, not really sure how to be more specific. Tobias was still a conundrum in terms of what species he was. I mean, he looked human, acted human, but he was not fully human to do the things that he did.

He smile widened, like he knew what she was asking. "If you mean are they the same as me, no. They're very different from me, but they can be trusted. Can we keep walking please?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Buffy said, and they started doing just that. "So, um...how strong are they anyways? Because Slayer senses went through the roof when you guys...kissed." She didn't know how someone could get Upper Big Bad power from a kiss, but just chalk that up alongside the other things she didn't get in her life. "How does that work, by the way?"

"In order, strong. Definitely above you in terms of versatility, but physically, if Yahan is as strong and more flexible then you, while Kazehana has more power at her fingertips then you have in your entire body." Buffy felt her ego take a pounding at that brutally honest assessment, but it didn't bother her too much. Experience taught her many things, one of which was that there is always someone or something stronger then herself out there. Heck, when she met Tobias, he had beaten her then knocked her out only to beat her again later when she knew, partially, what to expect. "As for the kiss, it's complicated, but in layman's terms, and ignoring a bunch of other stuff, they both get access to their full power when they kiss me."

"So, everything I felt was full throttle?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Tobias nodded.

"Wonderful," she muttered. "Where do you fit in on that scale?"

"Oh, I'm more powerful than both of them combined." The blonde nearly broke her neck with how fast she whipped her head around, and her eyes almost fell out of her skull. "Did I not mention that?" He asked innocently.

"No, you did not mention that!" Buffy almost yelled. This was very out of character for her, but when someone drops a bombshell, like the "oh, I have more power than some of the most dangerous demons ever" kind, you don't act normal. "How do you have that much and I never even _noticed_? Or hey, how come you never use it?" That time with the Gentlemen, or Hus, or those demons Willow's accidental spell had made Xander draw, even if he hadn't been there for the last part.

"The greatest advantage is the element of surprise." Tobias said wisely. Absently, she noticed he sorta sounded like Giles. "I don't use anything I don't have to or want to. That means I don't stick out any more then I need to and when I do pull out the bigger guns, everyone is caught off guard. That's probably why you never noticed either. Most of my power is kept...dormant, I guess you'd say? Or maybe hidden would be a better way of putting it." He shrugged. "Either way, I'm powerful and no one knows it, which is the point."

Well, that was a conversation stopper. Buffy spent the rest of the walking trip thinking on that revelation, not even noticing where they were going until they arrived on campus. Then she noticed the flashing red lights, bouncing off buildings. She remembered that one of the fraternities was having a party and unless she was mistaken, she could see an ambulance and crowd right where it was supposed to be. Sharing a look with Tobias, the pair quickly walked to it and was just going in as two paramedics were going out with a stretcher. On top of it was a body bag.

"Guys! Over here!" The call got their attention and they saw Willow sitting on the staircase, somehow looking smaller than she really was.

"Wow," Buffy sighed as she sat down next to her friend. "I wasn't sure where the party was, and...Then I saw the flashing lights and the ambulance and I was like, 'right, of course. Death carnage. It's a Buffy party.'"

"Are you ok?" Tobias asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, clearly shaken.

"What happened?"

"I found him. T-this guy, on the bed with me...dead. Not, me dead, he dead."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Buffy asked. Trauma like that was powerful stuff and Willow was such a kind and friendly girl, it would affect her in a big way. She got a nod and glanced around before mouthing, 'Vampire?'

Willow shook her head. "So much blood. A-and there was this symbol. And Percy called me a nerd!"

"Percy called you a nerd?" Buffy said angrily. The redhead had gotten enough demeaning comments like that in high school, she didn't need them here. Not when she was starting to grow as a person and gaining confidence in herself.

"Percy who?" Tobias asked.

"Guy we went to high school with, she tutored him." Buffy explained.

"I'll give him a smack later then," he decided. "In the meantime we should get back to Giles, fill him in and maybe call Xander. Think you can help us with figuring out what's going on?" He asked Willow, not wanting to push her too far too soon after a traumatic experience. She nodded and Buffy helped her up before they walked out the door.

"Does Percy even go here?" The Slayer asked.

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

"...just made me feel like I was right back in high school." Willow finished filling everyone, including Xander after he'd been called over, in. Apparently, the only reason she had found the body was that Percy had been there with a date that hadn't liked how Willow seemed to know him and called her a nerd so he could calm his date down. That made her go look for a place to be alone, which was the room with Dead Boy.

"Dumb jock. If it's wasn't for you he still would be." Xander said, still dressed up in his pizza delivery uniform since he'd come right over.

"Yeah, well, people like Percy are all too common. Just don't appreciate the help they get from other people's kindness." Tobias sighed.

"I mean, I know the whole 'Percy' thing isn't important, it's the dead guy on the bed." Willow quickly said, so as to not look petty and self-absorbed.

"Yeah, that's bad too." Tobias agreed.

"Oh, there's something else. He, the...dead guy, was propped up, like whatever killed him wanted to drain the blood out of him. So, I'm thinking that whatever, took a bunch of the guy's blood with him. And I haven't been a need for a very long time!" The redhead went on a tangent again, sounding indigent. "Hello, dating a guitarist. Or I, was."

"Ok, Willow, listen to me," Tobias said firmly. "I can say, with one hundred percent certainty that Percy has already peaked and life is going to slide into a gutter of cheap clothes, bad dates, crappy jobs and a sucky life once he's out of college. You, on the other hand, are smart, compassionate, and your life is easily going to be ten times without you even trying. But since you are going to be trying, it'll be a hundred times better. So don't let some bitter remarks from a stupid jock get you down, ok?" She nodded slowly, looking better. He patted her shoulder. "Ok."

Buffy smiled slightly. It was amazing how easily Tobias managed to do that, but if it worked, it worked. "Tell them about the symbol." She told Willow.

"Right, it was carved into his chest," she pulled a folded napkin out of her pockets and after unfolding it, showed everyone. On it was a triangle, surrounding a single eye in the center with two lines above it and three below. "Like a big creepy eye." She added, handing it to Giles.

"It kinda looks like the CBS logo." Xander snapped his fingers. "Hey, could this be the handiwork of one Morley Schaeffer?"

"Looks like the Deathly Hollow symbol from Harry Potter," Tobias threw in, drawing strange looks from everyone but Giles. "Never mind, it's just a...never mind."

Brushing it off, Buffy looked at the drawing. "I'm telling you, I've seen this before. I just can't remember where." She could feel it in the back of her head, but it was tantalizingly out of reach. "I mean, it's like..."

"It's the end of the world." Giles interrupted her, walking around to the other side of the desk.

Everyone looked at him before the senior members of the Scooby Gang all said, "Again!?"

"Well, now it's just an average Thursday night for me." Tobias muttered under his breath as Giles rubbed his eyes and gestured at the drawing.

"It's um, the earthquake. That symbol, is um-"

Buffy interrupted. "I told you. I said end of the world. And you're like, "Pooh-pooh, Southern California, pooh-pooh."

"I'm so very sorry. My contrition completely dwarfs the impending apocalypse." You could taste the sarcasm on the sentence.

"No, I-I-I-it can't be. We, we've done all his already." Willow objected.

"It's the end of the world, everyone dies. It's rather important, really." Giles simply replied.

There was an uncomfortable silence before the Witch broke it. "So what do we do?"

Buffy went to the coat rack next to the door and grabbed a crossbow from it. "I stop it."

"Wait a minute!" Tobias grabbed the drawing and held it close. He recognized this now. "Buffy, you remember that graveyard we were patrolling a week and a half ago?"

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

Half hour later, the pair was standing in the moonlight graveyard in question, Buffy still armed with her crossbow while Tobias had two stakes hidden up his sleeves and a sheathed knife, courtesy of Giles's stash, in his back. Both looking up at a carving on the side of a mausoleum. It was a bit different then Willow's drawing, namely a small circle on top of the triangle, plus three lines above the eye and five below, but it was otherwise the same.

"I wonder where I've seen this before. Where else?" Buffy asked rhetorically. "Considering I spend most of my waking hours memorizing stuff on the sides of mausoleums. Big, freaky cereal boxes of death."

"I've seen boxes of death, and this not one of them. Trust me on that."

The statement from Tobias was cut off as a large clatter and screech of rusted nails being pulled out of wood came from inside. Looking at each other, they cautiously moved around to the entrance, ones crossbow loaded and primed while two stakes slide silently into the others hands. Stepping inside, they saw a demon standing beside an open casket, putting the bones inside in a cloth sack. As they watched, he grabbed the skull with clawed hands and roughly pushed into the bag, the bone and casket the right size for a child.

"Door was open," Buffy got the demons attention so it faced them. It had a smooth head that stretched into bony protrusions in back, scaled green skin, red eyes and pointed teeth. Overall, a rather typical demon. Clothes consisted of brown robs tied around the waist with a leather belt and boots. Planting its feet, it roared threateningly at them. Buffy lifted her weapon and fired, the arrow hitting his shoulder before bouncing off. The demon staggered, Tobias throwing both stakes to slam into its chest only to be stopped and clatter to the floor before the demon balanced again and approached them, knocking aside Buffy's crossbow as she threw it.

The blonde ducked under its swing and punched it's mid-section while the Airbender teen drew his knife and slashed across the extended arm, parting the skin to let green blood flow. Growling in pain and anger, the demon focused on him, trying to cut him with his claws while Tobias weaved between the slashes or deflecting with his knife.

"Stealing the bones from a child's grave. You're definitely not going on the nice list this year."

Buffy spun on heel and kicked it in the ribs, sending him into the wall. She punched him in the chest two, three, four times before she threw him towards the middle of the room. "Tobias, outside!"

"Got it!" Eyes flashing silver, he kicked the demon in the chest, focusing air to the bottom of his foot so when it connected, it went off like a small controlled explosion, sending the demon right out the door. Running out, they saw he'd gone a good ten feet away from the entrance and scrambling to its feet.

"That one of your tricks?" Buffy asked, since she'd felt the tremor in the air from that kick.

"Controlled air expulsion from the bottom of my foot. Even if someone was looking at me, they wouldn't know." Tobias explained quickly, since the demon was getting to his feet and turning to run. "Oh no you don't!" Flipping it so he held the blade, he threw his knife into the demons shoulder. He roared in pain before reaching around and pulling it out, blood coating it as his cloth darkened around the area of penetration. "Ok, maybe not my best idea."

"You think?" Buffy asked sarcastically. They weapons while the demon had a knife and claws. That was up there in her stupider ideas.

The demon charged, slashing wildly at them as they danced around him before he managed to catch Buffy's legs with a kick, making her lose her balance. Another kick, this one to the liver and she fell to the ground, pain flaring up to temporarily paralyze her.

"Hey!" Tobias quickly grabbed a small rock and threw it, drawing attention to him. "Come and get me, you overgrown soulless lizard!" Not his best insult but it works, making the demon angry before it charged and slashed several times before catching him across the bicep to deal a shallow cut. Seeing it had drawn blood, it dropped the knife and kicked him in the chest into a tombstone before swinging its bag of bones to his temple, stunning him.

Buffy, having enough time to gather herself by now, saw Tobias was down for the minute and ran, jumping and kicking the demon away from him. Growling in anger as she charged it, it grabbed the blonde around the waist lifted her up before slamming him over the tombstone.

Buffy felt a starburst of pain radiate from her mid back, then she was pushed over and rolled a small distance away. She heard heavy, receding footsteps as she stared up and tried to get herself to move again. A shadow fell across her and instinct kicked in. Jumping up and spinning with her right arm extended to deal a haymaker to her mystery guest before she got a clear look, only to be blocked. She blinked when she saw who it was.

"Wow," Riley looked impressed as he lowered his arm and rubbed it. He was dressed in jeans and a grey sweater, civilian clothes. "That flippy thing you did was-"

"Where did it go?" She cut him off, looking around for the demon.

"Toward the woods. Ow!" Tobias grumbled as he got up, pressing a hand to his temple. "That's going to swell." He grumbled before turning to face the pair, eyes meeting with Reily's. The two took each other in, sizing the other up.

"You didn't go after it?"

"Ok, I got a knife cut across my arm that may be a flesh wound, but it stings like hell and I'm struggling to speak straight right now, give me a minute." Tobias snapped, putting a hand down to support him.

"No weapons, no back up. You don't go after a demon that size by yourself." Reily defended himself.

"I do." The blonde replied simply.

"Yeah, well, I'm no Slayer," Riley joked, pulling a radio from his back pocket. "Base one, this is lilac one, come in."

Buffy looked at him. "Lilac?"

He held up a finger before getting a "go" back. "Confirmed sighting of an unidentified HST. Mobilize patrol team for debriefing at 0800 hours."

"Copy that."

"Told you, Buffy. Military." Tobias grunted as he pushed himself up, feeling better now. Walking around, he held out his hand. "Tobias. Nice to officially meet you without demons trying to kill us."

"Riley." The military man grasped the hand and shook it firmly. He also squeezed it harder than normal trying to gauge a reaction from the teen. Other than quirking an eyebrow, he didn't react. "Haven't seen you around school."

"New to town. Only arrived a few months ago." He said, dropping the handshake.

Buffy had a feeling this was about to dissolve into a Q and A, so she interrupted. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, 'she who hangs out in cemeteries'." Riley jokes with a smile.

The Slayers mouth went dry at the joke. If it was any other time and he was a normal guy, she'd be inclined to stay and flirt with him for a while. "Well, I have to...to..." She stuttered.

"We need to go get that demon." Tobias finished for her. She nodded and the pair started to walk slowly.

"Don't sweat it. We'll bag it."

"Not that simple." Buffy said, turning around. Tobias decided to give them some privacy and went to grab the knife and stakes he'd dropped.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Riley. I just...I can't."

"Can't talk?" He asked.

She sighed. Before she couldn't talk to her crush because of her secret, now she couldn't talk to him because they knew each other's secrets. That was a bigger twist in her normally very twisty life. "Can't any of it. I...I can't be with you. It, it's huge black pit of mistake, and I can't go there again."

"Again? You- you dated me before?" He asked, clearly shocked and trying to figure out where this was coming from.

"No, I-" she groaned, trying to think of how to phrase this. "I was involved-" she sighed. "You don't know what my life is like."

"And I'm dying to find out."

"_Dying_ being the operative word here. Ok, there's too much risk. There's too much- it's just doomed. And, I can't do doomed again right now, sorry." She turned and tried to walk away from the source of her feelings of hurt and confusion and...Other emotions she wasn't willing to deal with an apocalypse on the horizon.

"I don't understand where this is coming from. I, I know you like me." Riley said. And it's not like we don't have anything in common-"

"But that's not enough!"

"Buffy, I'm-I'm confused by this," Clearly not something the commando was used to dealing with. He swallowed before going on. "But I can feel my skin humming. My hands, my-my every inch of me. I've never been this excited about anybody before. I'm not trying to scare you and I'm not going to force myself on you, but I am by God not going to walk away because I think it might not work." He slowly walked forward until there was only a foot of distance between them and buffy could look up into his eyes. Eyes that were full of fire and determination and that made her heart flutter with feelings she thought she's only ever feel for Angel. He slowly reached out a hand to touch her gently on the arm. "I don't know what's happened in your past-"

She felt a knife get stabbed into her and quickly backed away from him. "Pain. Death. Apocalypse." She listed with a voice that was steadier than she felt. "None of it fun. Do you know what a Hellmouth is? Do you have a fancy term for it? Because I went to high school on it. For three years. We do not have that much in common. This is a job to you-"

"It's not just a job!" He objected.

"It's an adventure, great." She laughed bitterly as her years of pain rose to the surface and she let it pour out into her voice. "But for me, it's destiny. It's something that I can't change, I can't escape. I'm sorry, but I'm stuck."

"You don't have to be." He said firmly. She shook her head. "You're not in high school anymore. You can change things."

"Riley, no."

"Look, I know it may seem..."

"Riley!" He stopped at her raised voice. "My answer, is no." Turning on heel, the blonde walked away quickly before he could see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

Riley watched her go with the same pain in his heart.

"She only does because she cares."

He looked around to see Tobias coming towards him and looking in the direction that Buffy had gone.

"And I suppose you'd know?" He asked bitterly.

"Not all of it, but enough." Tobias replied evenly. "She was harsh, but that's her defense mechanism with feelings like these I think. What she just said about pain, death, apocalypses is all-true. Being the Slayer means that they're the single line of defense between this world and the never-ending forces of evil. And when one dies, the next is chosen and either steps up or is cut down and another comes. It's a lonely life for them when they get chosen, and there is no way out but through the release of death."

"She doesn't have to do it alone." Riley argued.

"I fully agree with you, but you need to understand that Slayers are made to be instruments of death for the forces of good. They have to do and see unspeakably evil things to defend the world, and not everyone is cut out for it. So when she's pushing you away, it's not because she wants to, but it's to protect you from dying simply by being at her side. Can you honestly tell me you know what that's like? Having people die around you simple because you're the one person in the world who has to fight darkness to your dying breath, and for three years?"

Riley swallowed and looked at the ground. "No." He admitted.

Tobias patted his shoulder. "It's hard. It's painful, and it's short, but I personally believe you should keep pushing. If you don't, she's never going to let someone in and she desperately needs that, however much she might deny it."

Nodding slowly in agreement, Riley drew himself up straight with that fire back in his eyes. Buffy was the only person that made him feeling like this, and if she was hurting he wanted to help. Then, cracking a slight smile, he looked at Tobias. "You'd make a good psychologist."

"Oh please, I could never be a shrink," he scoffed. "I'd be telling my patients to get over it and move on in life. I only do touchy-feely stuff with people who really need it, like you, my giant commando." He smacked the shoulder firmly. "FYI, don't worry about me going after Buffy, I already have a girlfriend."

"Any advice?"

Tobias pretended to think for a moment. "Yeah. Keep an eye out for stakes. She tried to stake when we first met."

"You're kidding. Right?" Riley added when he saw the amused look.

"Oh, look at the time, I need to be getting home. Do me a favor and don't mention me to your buddies ok?" Tobias turned and walked away with a small grin on his face. Hey, Riley might be what Buffy needed and who she liked, but the guy would need to keep on his toes around them. In the meantime, he needed to get home, kiss his girlfriends, and get this damn cut disinfected and bandaged before he caught some exotic demon disease to ruin his day.

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but me and my good friend lostsoldierS636 got working on his crossover DPMJ: The Sekirei Initiative and posted a chapter on that since it hadn't been touched in a while, plus I've been bouncing ideas off him for two surprises on this story. Won't come into play for a while but when they do, things are really going to get shaken up. Till then, read, favorite and review.**


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